With the release of his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and his performance of "Starman" on the BBC television programme Top of the Pops in early July 1972, David Bowie was launched to stardom. To support the album, Bowie embarked on the Ziggy Stardust Tour in both the UK and the US. He composed most of the tracks for the follow-up record on the road during the US tour in late 1972. Because of this, many of the tracks were influenced by America, and his perceptions of the country.
In October 1972, Bowie and an entourage of 46 people (including Mike Garson's family and Iggy Pop) stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles for a week. The entourage spent time at clubs and the hotel pool, accumulating a $20,000 hotel bill by the time they departed. "Cracked Actor" was written during this stay. It was primarily inspired by the numerous barely-teenage prostitutes and drugs that Bowie witnessed on Sunset Boulevard. According to author Peter Doggett, the song encompassed "three layers of prostitution" on the Boulevard: "offering money for sex; sex for drugs; worship for fame." Regarding the Boulevard's clients, Bowie recalled: "They were mostly older producer types, quite strange looking, quite charming, but thoroughly unreal."
"Cracked Actor" was recorded at Trident Studios in London in January 1973, following the conclusion of the American tour and a series of Christmas concerts in England and Scotland. Like the rest of it’s parent album, the song was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and featured Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Woody Woodmansey. From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracked_Actor_(song)
