My Take
John Lurie is one of those downtown New York originals who never fit neatly into any box, and that's exactly what makes him so fascinating. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards in the late 1970s and helped define a whole strain of avant-garde jazz that felt more like a conversation between bebop and art-school mischief than anything you could program at a normal venue. Then he turned around and acted in Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law with complete deadpan cool — not because he was trying to be an actor, but because Jarmusch just got him. Fishing with John is its own thing entirely: deliberately absurd, weirdly meditative, genuinely funny. And since Lyme disease sidelined his saxophone career in the 1990s, he pivoted hard into painting, and his watercolors are unsettling in the best possible way. The man just keeps reinventing, and I respect the hell out of that.
Overview
John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law; has composed and performed music for 20 television and film works; and he produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- John Lurie
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョン・ルーリー
- Reading
- じょん・るーりー
- Born
- December 14, 1952 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / painter / saxophonist / director / composer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Fishing with John | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.