A blue-eyed, retro-hip crooner who has crossed over into acting, Chris Isaak has lent his smooth mournful guitar and lilting vocals to several feature soundtracks. The son of a blue-collar California family, Isaak studied in Japan in the 1970s, then began his music career with the band Silvertone in the mid-80s. He first came to filmgoers' attention with songs in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" (1986) and "Wild at Heart" (1990), notably the hit "Wicked Game". He has also been heard on the soundtracks of "Modern Girls" (1986), "North Shore" (1987), "Shag" and "Married to the Mob" (both 1988). Between record releases and tours, Isaak has recorded for such latter-day films as Edward Zwick's "Leaving Normal" (1992), Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" (1993) and Ron Shelton's "Tin Cup" (1996).Isaak's slim good looks and soft-spoken manner have earned him several small film roles, beginning as a fast-food clown in Jonathan Demme's "Married to the Mob" (1988) and a SWAT commander in Demme's "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). Isaak also appeared in the rockumentary "Let's Get Lost" (1988) and played an FBI agent in David Lynch's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (1992). But his acting career was pretty much a lark until 1994, when Bernardo Bertolucci cast him as the father of a child who may be the "Little Buddha". More supporting roles followed in the music-related films "Grace of My Heart", directed by Alison Anders, and "That Thing You Do!" (both 1996), which marked Tom Hanks' directorial debut. Also in 1996, Isaak made his TV acting debut as a children's library worker on the highly-hyped post-Super Bowl episode of NBC's hit sitcom "Friends".
Profession(s):
singer, musician, Actor
Sometimes Credited As:
Christopher J Isaak
Family
brother:Jeff Isaak (born in December 1953)
brother:Nick Isaak (born in October 1951)
father:Clarence Isaak
mother:Dorothy Isaak (worked in potato chip factory)
Companion(s)
Bai Ling
, Companion
, ```..reportedly dating from late 1999
Margaret Cho
, Companion
, ```..no longer together
MTV Music Award Male Video "Wicked Game" 1991
MTV Music Award Video from a Movie "Wicked Game" 1991
2004 Appeared as Roy Orbison in the NBC drama "American Dreams"
2004 Cast in John Waters' "A Dirty Shame" starring Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville and Selma Blair
2001 Starred in "The Chris Isaak Show" (Showtime)
1996 Made TV acting debut on "Friends" (NBC)
1993 First co-starring film role, "Little Buddha"
1988 Feature acting debut as The Clown in "Married to the Mob"
1986 First film with his songs on soundtrack, "Blue Velvet"
1985 Released debut album, "Silvertone"
Raised in Stockton, California
Studied in Japan in in the 1970s
Moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s
Formed the band Silvertone
