David Bowie vs Edgar Degas
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| David Bowie | Edgar Degas | |
| Field | Film | Art |
| Sub-field | Actor | Painting |
| Born | 1947 | 1834 |
| Died | 2016 | 1917 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | France |
| Star sign | Capricorn | Cancer |
Who they are
David Bowie
On June 6, 1972, a twenty-four-year-old Brixton-born musician named David Robert Jones — performing under the name David Bowie, inhabiting a character he had named Ziggy Stardust — appeared on the BBC television programme Top of the Pops to perform "Starman," draped his arm around his guitarist Mick Ronson's shoulders in a gesture that was, for British television in 1972, practically avant-garde, and stared directly into the camera. The performance reached approximately fifteen million viewers. Within a week, the Ziggy Stardust album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was…
Full biography of David Bowie →
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas was obsessed with movement — the way a dancer's tutu catches the stage light mid-pirouette, the bunched muscle of a racehorse at the starting gate, the tired slump of a laundress pressing a shirt at the end of a long day. He trained his eye like a scientist and his hand like a master draughtsman, then used both to capture modern Paris in moments of arrested motion that feel simultaneously spontaneous and eternally composed. He called himself a Realist. Others called him an Impressionist. He rejected the label but showed in seven of…
Full biography of Edgar Degas →
What they share
- Both are documented on this site with a verified biography.
Where they part
- Different fields: Film for David Bowie, Art for Edgar Degas.
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and France.
- 113 years separate their births (1947 and 1834).
- Their lifetimes never overlapped.
Questions people ask
- Who came first, David Bowie or Edgar Degas?
- Edgar Degas. David Bowie was born in 1947, Edgar Degas in 1834.
- What field is each of them in?
- David Bowie is filed under Film (Actor). Edgar Degas is filed under Art (Painting).
- Were they contemporaries?
- No - their lifetimes do not overlap.