Many A-listers are polymaths. For example, Phil Hartman, used to be Phil Hartmann (extra "n"), and designed some of the most iconic album covers of the 1970s, and Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there. It used to be part of his standup bit.

Dick Van Dyke came from the tail end of Vaudeville, where performers had to have a whole variety of skills.

Remember: Every one of these folks that hits the limelight, beat out thousands of others.

We think our vocation is competitive? Showbiz says "Hold my beer."

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ndstephens 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Just looked it up and saw he did an album cover for Steely Dan. It reminded me that Chevy Chase was an early drummer for Steely Dan (well, before they became "Steely Dan")

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pstuart 2 days ago | parent [-]

The album: Aja -- a masterpiece.

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_whiteCaps_ 2 days ago | parent [-]

Not according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aja_(album)#Title_and_packagin...

but he did do a bunch for America: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hartman#Discography

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pstuart 2 days ago | parent [-]

Thanks for the correction -- I was hasty with my search and trusted the link that proclaimed that he did it.

	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Might not be wrong. The Wikipedia article states that it is incomplete.

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martinesq 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there

And he’s great with a lasso!

I love his albums with Edie Brickell, he’s good with Steep Canyon Rangers, and more recently have heard him shine with Alison Brown (banjo), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and others in his latest tour.

If you’re looking for the top banjo players technically, you might check out Béla Fleck, Jens Kruger, Noam Pikelny, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs. I’ve personally heard superhuman performances by Jens Kruger in-person and I grew up on Scruggs.

	▲	kstrauser 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		I have a fond memory of my dad taking me to see Roy Clark when I was a little guy.

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trehalose 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Hedy Lamarr was a prolific inventor. Among other things, she developed a frequency-hopping spread spectrum radio transmission technique for torpedo guidance and donated the patent to the US Navy during WW2.

	▲	gramie a day ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I believe that the frequency hopping technique is still used everywhere today, for things like wi-fi and Bluetooth.
	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 3 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		That's "Headley!" (Blazing Saddles reference). And of course, there's Sir Doctor Brian May. Many of the early electronic musicians were basically engineers (you had to be, to use some of those old synthesizers).

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dboreham 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

For completeness: Billy Connolly was also a banjo player.

	▲	ChrisMarshallNY 14 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I believe that the banjo is common in Celtic bands. There's a pretty strong relationship between the music of Appalachia, and Gaelic music.