The Six Best Film Portrayals of Music Legends

Music legends of all genres have been brought to the big screen through the years. James Cagney won his only Oscar for his role as George M. Cohan in "Yankee Doodle Dandy." "Amadeus" earned 8 Oscar awards, including Best Actor for F. Murray Abraham, and Gary Busey was nominated for Best Actor for his starring role in "The Buddy Holly Story" in which he sang some of Holly's hits.

Portraying a music legend is a challenge for the most experienced actor. Perfecting well-recognized mannerisms or portraying well-publicized performances is a lesson in perfect imitation. If he has no musical background, lip-synching to songs everyone knows by heart can be difficult. The best movie portrayals of music icons gave no indication that the actor wasn't actually singing. In most cases, the stars did perform many of the classic hits.

6. "The Doors"
Starring Val Kilmer as enigmatic lead singer Jim Morrison, "The Doors" followed the rise of the 60s rock & roll icons. Kilmer WAS Jim Morrison in the look, the moves and the attitude. Kilmer is even credited with lending additional vocals to some of The Doors' biggest hits such as "Touch Me" and "LA Woman".

4 & 5. "Walk the Line"
Reese Witherspoon earned an Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter Cash next to Joaquin Phoenix' Oscar-nominated portrayal of Johnny Cash. Witherspoon and Phoenix not only visually became the part, they spent six months training their vocals with Executive Music Producer T-Bone Burnett in order to accurately portray these country music legends.

3. "Coal Miner's Daughter"
The story of country music icon Loretta Lynn, "Coal Miner's Daughter" garnered the Best Actress Oscar for Sissy Spacek. Singing such hits as "You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man" and "Coal Miner's Daughter." Spacek perfected Lynn's well-recognized twang.

2. "Beyond the Sea"
Crooner Bobby Darin came to life as Kevin Spacey starred, directed and produced "Beyond the Sea." However, Spacey wasn't busy enough with all those jobs and he sang all of Darin's songs on the soundtrack including the title song and the iconic "Mack the Knife". While Spacey and "Beyond the Sea" were nominated for five awards including a Grammy but not an Oscar, they left each awards show empty-handed.

1. "Ray"
Jamie Foxx captured the "soul" of the legendary Ray Charles and won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal. Foxx perfectly represented all of the classic mannerisms Charles' fans recognize and also performed some of his most well-known hits, including "I Got a Woman" and "Hit the Road, Jack". Foxx won a total of seven Best Actor awards - collecting the win every time he was nominated.

For more information about any of these films, visit Yahoo! Movies here.

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