John Lurie

John Lurie

Born: December 14, 1952
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded The Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble, has acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, has composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series. In 1996 his soundtrack for Get Shorty was nominated for a Grammy Award, and his album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits has been praised by critics and musicians alike. Since 2000 Lurie has suffered from chronic Lyme disease and has focused his attention on painting.

Movies for John Lurie...

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Title: Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Character: Self - Artist / Friend
Released: July 16, 2021
Type: Movie
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.
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Title: Painting With John
Character: Self
Released: January 22, 2021
Type: TV
Part meditative tutorial, part fireside chat, each episode finds artist John Lurie ensconced at his worktable, where he hones his intricate watercolor techniques and shares his reflections on what he’s learned about life.
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Blank City
Title: Blank City
Character: Self
Released: April 6, 2011
Type: Movie
In the years before Ronald Reagan took office, Manhattan was in ruins. But true art has never come from comfort, and it was precisely those dire circumstances that inspired artists like Jim Jarmusch, Lizzy Borden, and Amos Poe to produce some of their best works. Taking their cues from punk rock and new wave music, these young maverick filmmakers confronted viewers with a stark reality that stood in powerful contrast to the escapist product being churned out by Hollywood.
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No Wave - Underground '80: Berlin - New York
Title: No Wave - Underground '80: Berlin - New York
Character: Self
Released: July 3, 2009
Type: Movie
the connections and energy flow between the various artists populating the 1980s sub-cultures of New York and Berlin. Features Jim Jarmusch, Lydia Lunch, Blixa Bargeld, Alex Hacke, Gudrun Gut, Nick Cave, and others. An important film. Bravo, Mr. Dreher.
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Title: Mobsters
Character: Narrator
Released: June 5, 2007
Type: TV
Mobsters is an American documentary television series that profiles the lives of infamous individuals in history; the series puts the spotlight on some of history's most infamous gangsters and all that went on during their reigns. The series airs on The Biography Channel. Some episodes of Mobsters are rehashes of the similar TV Series American Justice as well as Notorious (TV series), both series that were originally broadcast on Biography Channel's sister channel, A&E Network; some episodes also rehash segments from another A&E series American Gangster, which began airing on the Black Entertainment Television channel. The only differences are the intro of the episodes and the lead-in's after commercials. Besides this, the rehashed episodes are no different in any way.
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Face Addict
Title: Face Addict
Character: Himself
Released: November 15, 2005
Type: Movie
Face Addict tells the story of a unique and unrepeatable experience, that of the artistic community in New York between the late '70s and early '80s, known as the downtown scene.
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TV Party
Title: TV Party
Character: Self
Released: August 3, 2005
Type: Movie
From 1978 to 1982, Glenn O'Brien hosted a New York city public access cable TV show called TV Party. Co-hosted by Chris Stein, from Blondie, and directed by filmmaker Amos Poe, the hour long show took television where it had never gone before: to the edge of civility and "sub-realism" as Glenn would put it. Walter Steding and his TV Party "Orchestra" provided a musical accompaniment to the madness at hand, and many artists and musicians, from The Clash, Nile Rodgers, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Bryne and Arto Lindsey were regular guests. It was the cocktail party that could be a political party. With 80 hours of disintegrating 3/4 inch videotape as a starting point, we tracked down the trend setting participants still living today and found out what they remember of the period and how the show influenced their lives. This, combined with clips from the orginal show, became the documentary "TV Party.
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5 Sides of a Coin
Title: 5 Sides of a Coin
Released: November 12, 2004
Type: Movie
"5 Sides of a Coin" is a comprehensive overview of the worldwide cultural movement of Hip-Hop.
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Tortured by Joy
Title: Tortured by Joy
Character: Narrator
Released: January 19, 2004
Type: Movie
A short film narrated by John Lurie comprised of still images La Jetee-style about the middle-aged rediscovering punk rock.
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Downtown '81
Title: Downtown '81
Character: Self
Released: July 13, 2001
Type: Movie
The film is a day in the life of a young artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who needs to raise money to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. He wanders the downtown streets carrying a painting he hopes to sell, encountering friends, whose lives (and performances) we peek into.
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Some Days in January, 1984
Title: Some Days in January, 1984
Released: July 1, 2001
Type: Movie
A short behind-the-scenes documentary shot and edited on Super 8 by filmmaker Tom Jarmusch, director Jim Jarmusch’s brother, during the filming of STRANGER THAN PARADISE.
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Sleepwalk
Title: Sleepwalk
Character: Frank
Released: March 10, 2000
Type: Movie
At loose ends drifter stumbles upon a struggling painter as he searches for answers under the stars and rooftops of New York.
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Title: SpongeBob SquarePants
Character: Special Guest Appearance
Released: May 1, 1999
Type: TV
Deep down in the Pacific Ocean in the subterranean city of Bikini Bottom lives a square yellow sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants. SpongeBob lives in a pineapple with his pet snail, Gary, loves his job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, and has a knack for getting into all kinds of trouble without really trying. When he's not getting on the nerves of his cranky next door neighbor Squidward, SpongeBob can usually be found smack in the middle of all sorts of strange situations with his best buddy, the simple yet lovable starfish, Patrick, or his thrill-seeking surfer-girl squirrel pal, Sandy Cheeks.
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New Rose Hotel
Title: New Rose Hotel
Character: Distinguished Man
Released: March 19, 1999
Type: Movie
A corporate raider and his henchman use a chanteuse to lure a scientific genius away from his employer and family.
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Just Your Luck
Title: Just Your Luck
Character: Coker
Released: November 29, 1996
Type: Movie
Six million dollars suddenly goes up for grabs when an aged diner's heart fails after he discovers that he has won the lottery. Which of the remaining late-night dining regulars will get the cash? How many will have to die to get the answer?
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Blue in the Face
Title: Blue in the Face
Character: Saxophone player
Released: September 15, 1995
Type: Movie
Auggie runs a small tobacco shop in Brooklyn, New York. The whole neighborhood comes to visit him to buy cigarettes and have some small talk. During the movie Lou Reed tries to explain why he has to have a cut on his health insurance bill if he keeps smoking and Madonna acts as a Singing Telegram.
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John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards Live in Berlin 1991
Title: John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards Live in Berlin 1991
Character: Alto & Soprano Saxophone
Released: September 9, 1992
Type: Movie
John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards performing live in Berlin.
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Title: Fishing with John
Character: Self
Released: November 20, 1991
Type: TV
Musician John Lurie knows nothing about fishing, but that doesn't stop him from embarking on fishing in exotic locations with friends.
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Wild at Heart
Title: Wild at Heart
Character: Sparky
Released: August 17, 1990
Type: Movie
After serving prison time for a self-defense killing, Sailor Ripley reunites with girlfriend Lula Fortune. Lula's mother, Marietta, desperate to keep them apart, hires a hitman to kill Sailor. But he finds a whole new set of troubles when he and Bobby Peru, an old buddy who's also out to get Sailor, try to rob a store. When Sailor lands in jail yet again, the young lovers appear further than ever from the shared life they covet.
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John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
Title: John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1990
Type: Movie
"Lounge Lizard" John Lurie — actor, performer, and musician — talks about love and life and gives a gentle insight into modern time's hipster attitudes.
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Location Production Footage: The Last Temptation of the Christ
Title: Location Production Footage: The Last Temptation of the Christ
Character: Self
Released: October 7, 1988
Type: Movie
Behind the scenes of 'The Last Temptation of the Christ'
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The Little Devil
Title: The Little Devil
Character: Cusatelli
Released: July 1, 1988
Type: Movie
Father Maurice, a priest living in a residential college for priests in Rome, is called out one day to "exorcise" the devil from someone. The devil turns out to be in the form of a fun-loving man called Giuditta. What Father Maurice doesn't know is that this type of devil will turn his life around.
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The Last Temptation of Christ
Title: The Last Temptation of Christ
Character: James, Apostle
Released: May 28, 1988
Type: Movie
Jesus, a humble Judean carpenter beginning to see that he is the son of God, is drawn into revolutionary action against the Roman occupiers by Judas -- despite his protestations that love, not violence, is the path to salvation. The burden of being the savior of mankind torments Jesus throughout his life, leading him to doubt.
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Down by Law
Title: Down by Law
Character: Jack
Released: September 20, 1986
Type: Movie
A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.
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The Kitchen Presents: Two Moon July
Title: The Kitchen Presents: Two Moon July
Released: September 3, 1986
Type: Movie
Two Moon July was a multidisciplinary event that featured experimental video, film, visual art, performance and music in a theatrical framework. More than thirty artists participated in the program, which was produced for the Kitchen by Carlota Schoolman and directed by Tom Bowes.
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Desperately Seeking Susan
Title: Desperately Seeking Susan
Character: Neighbor Saxophonist
Released: March 29, 1985
Type: Movie
Roberta is a bored suburban housewife who is fascinated with a woman, Susan, she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of the newspaper. This fascination reaches a peak when an ad with the headline "Desperately Seeking Susan" proposes a rendezvous. Roberta goes too, and in a series of events involving amnesia and mistaken identity, steps into Susan's life.
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The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Title: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency
Released: January 1, 1985
Type: Movie
Nan Goldin's slide show “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” converted, mixed and screened as a film by the artist, portraying the American underground culture, the no wave scene, post-Stonewall gay subculture, among others.
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Stranger Than Paradise
Title: Stranger Than Paradise
Character: Willie
Released: October 1, 1984
Type: Movie
A Hungarian immigrant, his friend, and his cousin go on an unpredictable adventure across America.
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Paris, Texas
Title: Paris, Texas
Character: 'Slater'
Released: July 16, 1984
Type: Movie
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
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Kino '84: The Making of Jim Jarmusch
Title: Kino '84: The Making of Jim Jarmusch
Character: Interviewee
Released: March 20, 1984
Type: Movie
Documentary on American film director Jim Jarmusch made for German television. featuring interviews with cast and crew from 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦 and 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘝𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
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Subway Riders
Title: Subway Riders
Character: The Saxophonist
Released: April 2, 1981
Type: Movie
A psychotic saxophone player lures victims to deserted spots with his music and then guns them down.
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Permanent Vacation
Title: Permanent Vacation
Character: Sax Player
Released: March 6, 1981
Type: Movie
In downtown Manhattan, a twenty-something boy whose Father is not around and whose Mother is institutionalized, is a big Charlie Parker fan. He almost subconsciously searches for more meaning in his life and meets a few characters along the way.
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Underground U.S.A.
Title: Underground U.S.A.
Character: Jack Smith
Released: November 6, 1980
Type: Movie
The Sunset Blvd. of underground cinema, and a suitably ambivalent retrospect on the star-game casualties of New York's upper depths, with Patti Astor statuesquely hysterical as a 20-year-old Norma Desmond, made up to recall Edie Sedgwick and surrounded by Warhol's lost children. We've been here before, but without the hindsight: a camera cruise along a hustler's meat-rack, kitchen-talk over cold canned spaghetti, Taylor Mead grimacing in a spastic dance, the silent stud a sullenly passive observer. Mitchell's ear for campy native wit and eye for figures in a loft-scape happily keep at bay the otherwise contagious NY ennui.
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The Offenders
Title: The Offenders
Character: The Lizard
Released: January 2, 1980
Type: Movie
A punk savage satire about a kidnapping.
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Men in Orbit
Title: Men in Orbit
Character: Astronaut
Released: April 10, 1979
Type: Movie
A “sci-fi povera” film shot on Super 8, Men in Orbit features musician Lurie and Eric Mitchell as chain-smoking astronauts in a decrepit New York living room that has been transformed into a spacecraft.
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Red Italy
Title: Red Italy
Released: March 13, 1979
Type: Movie
Second feature film by the French-born director is a Bertolucci-style story of a bored, rich woman looking for romance and adventure. She meets an American G.I., dumps him, then falls for a Communist worker.
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Rome '78
Title: Rome '78
Released: December 23, 1978
Type: Movie
Nares mocks up Ancient Rome by shooting in faux-classical sites like Grant's Tomb and Tribeca's American Thread Building, where a decrepit penthouse loft with a peeling-paint dome serves as an echoey stand-in for the imperial palace. The latter location required ingenuity: Posing as potential renters, Nares and associates asked the manager to show them the apartment, then unlocked the windows on the way out; a few hours later, they broke back into the space, full cast and crew in tow, to shoot the necessary scenes.