Jimmy Buffett is a singer/songwriter that is best known for his musical collection that includes such hits as "Margaritaville" and "Come Monday.
" What many more casual fans do not realize is that Jimmy Buffett has numerous appearances and contributions in television and film to go along with his island-centric musical style.
Buffett, born on Christmas Day in 1946, has developed a legion of devoted fans over four decades that are affectionately known as "Parrot Heads.
" These devout followers can be identified by the facts that many of them literally travel the country following the great Jimmy Buffett around on his US tours (which are quite frequent for a man his age) and by their singing along with every song during his lively concerts.
Somewhat surprisingly many of the loyal Parrot Heads do not know the full scope of the impact Buffett has had on movies and to a lesser extent television.
Long before Jimmy Buffett released 28 albums and sold over 30 million records during a 40+ year music career he grew up in Alabama and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi (commonly shorted to Southern Miss).
Eventually that young man would go onto become synonymous with the laid back Caribbean island lifestyle that he made famous and even make some film and television cameo appearances.
The movies "Hook" and "Congo" released in 1991 and 1995 are two of the better known movies that he has appeared in briefly.
Lesser known titles include "From the Earth to the Moon" (HBO miniseries released in 1998) and "Cobb" (1994 Tommy Lee Jones movie about legendary baseball player Ty Cobb).
The theme song to a short lived 1993 CBS series called Johnny Bago can also be counted among his lesser known credits in the film and television industry.
Reports have confirmed that Jimmy was also offered a cameo spot in the highly successful 2003 "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" movie but turned down the offer.
Buffett is often associated with the Caribbean and pirate culture as he keeps a home there and has ownership interests in hotels and restaurants around the Caribbean.
His biography "A Pirate Looks at Fifty" was a New York Times Bestseller.
An interesting piece of Buffett movie trivia is that the award winning musician actually wrote the Spicoli theme song which was played when Sean Penn's character (the long haired surfer dude Jeff Spocoli) appeared in the 1982 classic film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
" The tune is actually track number 13 ("I Don't Know (Spicoli's Theme)" on the movie soundtrack.
Despite more film and television appearances than most people have in a lifetime Jimmy Buffett will always be best known as a musician first and a businessman second.
The Southern Miss graduate put the degree he received in 1969 to use and has an empire of business interests that are related to his musical philosophy including the restaurant chains Cheeseburger in Paradise and Margaritaville Cafe, each of which are named and styled after a couple of his most famous songs.