David Bowie’s first screen role was in Michael Armstrong’s 1967 short film The Image.

In The Image Michael Byrne plays a troubled artist haunted by a ghostly young man who appears to step right out of one of his paintings. David Bowie plays the mysterious apparition who is haunting the artist and his unusual good looks and other-worldly appearance are used to great effect here. Bowie was just 20-years-old when he made his acting debut, but he had studied with the avant-garde performance artist and actor Lindsay Kemp who included elements of Mime and Butoh into his teaching. Bowie obviously made use of the skills he developed studying under Kemp for his role in The Image and his wordless performance as an unrelenting spectre is undoubtedly the most memorable element of this short film.”

The Image was shot in just three days and completed in 1967, but it didn’t have its official screen debut until 1969. Due to the violent content of the film it became one of the first shorts to receive an ‘X’ certificate from Britain’s notoriously restrictive film rating’s board.” Cinebeats.

The Image has appeared in the past on Youtube with first three minutes of the film lopped off. Here’s the film in its entirety.
 

 
Director Armstrong went on to direct one of my favorite horror films, the notorious Mark Of The Devil, which also ran afoul of the British censors.

In the following clip, Armstrong talks about working with Bowie.