It's Kevin the crooner

Kevin Spacey is best known as a double Oscar winning actor and the saviour of the Old Vic.

Now he has revealed another talent - nightclub singing. Spacey, 45, gave a live performance of Mac The Knife with Westlife at Cirque in Leicester Square after the premiere of his new film Beyond The Sea.

The Hollywood star directed, cowrote, sang and played the starring role of his idol Bobby Darin in the biopic, which he described as a fouryear "labour of love".

Such is his admiration for the Fifties crooner that next week he will embark on a tour of 12 American cities, singing in "An Evening Celebrating the Music of Bobby Darin" with the support of a 19-piece band.

Speaking at the premiere, he said: "This film is very special. It means more to me than any other film I have ever done. Making it was the most fun I've ever had in my whole life."

But he later admitted: "I was wearing so many hats that sometimes it was hard to get up in the morning."

Spacey, who is artistic director at the Old Vic and lives in London, described Darin as "one of the best all-round entertainers the world has ever known" and told how he grew up listening to his hits, which included Dream Lover, Mack The Knife and Beyond The Sea.

"My mother was a huge fan," he said. "By the time I was ten or 11, I was singing Bobby Darin hits into a hairbrush. I loved the experience of being him and singing in the film."

The film, which has already been tipped for an Oscar, tells the rags to riches tale of Darin's life and his tempestuous marriage to movie starlet Sandra Dee, played by American actress Kate Bosworth. Darin died at 37 from a heart condition resulting from a childhood illness.

Dee, who lives as a recluse in LA, gave the film her blessing. Spacey said: "She called me last week and said she loves it and that she wouldn't change a frame."

Bosworth arrived at the premiere alone, but her actor boyfriend Orlando Bloom turned up 15 minutes later.

Bosworth, 21, confessed she had never heard of Darin before being approached by Spacey to take the role. But she said: "It was a dream for me to land this part."