Tom Waits
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 7, 1949 (age 76)
- Birthplace
- Pomona, California, USA
Biography
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during the 1970s, but his music since the 1980s has reflected greater influence from blues, rock, vaudeville, and experimental genres. Waits was born and raised in a middle-class family in Whittier, California. Inspired by the work of Bob Dylan and the Beat Generation, he began singing on the San Diego folk music circuit as a young boy. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, where he worked as a songwriter before signing a recording contract with Asylum Records. His first albums were the jazz-oriented Closing Time (1973) and The Heart of Saturday Night (1974), which reflected his lyrical interest in nightlife, poverty, and criminality. He repeatedly toured the United States, Europe, and Japan, and attracted greater critical recognition and commercial success with Small Change (1976), Blue Valentine (1978), and Heartattack and Vine (1980). He produced the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's film One from the Heart (1981), and subsequently made cameo appearances in several Coppola films. In 1980, Waits married Kathleen Brennan, split from his manager and record label, and moved to New York City. With Brennan's encouragement and frequent collaboration, he pursued a more experimental and eclectic musical aesthetic influenced by the work of Harry Partch and Captain Beefheart. This was reflected in a series of albums released by Island Records, including Swordfishtrombones (1983), Rain Dogs (1985), and Franks Wild Years (1987). He continued appearing in films, notably starring in Jim Jarmusch's Down by Law (1986), and also made theatrical appearances. With theatre director Robert Wilson, he produced the musicals The Black Rider (1990) and Alice (1992), first performed in Hamburg. Having returned to California in the 1990s, his albums Bone Machine (1992), The Black Rider (1993), and Mule Variations (1999) earned him increasing critical acclaim and multiple Grammy Awards. In the late 1990s, he switched to the record label ANTI-, which released Blood Money (2002), Alice (2002), Real Gone (2004), and Bad as Me (2011). Despite a lack of mainstream commercial success, Waits has influenced many musicians and gained an international cult following, and several biographies have been written about him. In 2015, he was ranked at No. 55 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Movie · as Self
Wildwood
Movie · as Maxim (voice)
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
Movie · as Self
Wild Horse Nine
Movie · as Jim
Ray Gunn
Movie · as Eye-Ra (voice)
Who Is Martin Mull?
Movie · as Self
Father Mother Sister Brother
Movie · as Father
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Movie · as Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
The Last Ride
Movie · as Self
Star.Wav
Movie · as The Caller
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
Movie · as Self
This Is Sparklehorse
Movie · as Self
Licorice Pizza
Movie · as Rex Blau
Ultra City Smiths
TV · as The Narrator (voice) · 6 eps
The Dead Don't Die
Movie · as Hermit Bob
Motherless Brooklyn
Movie · as News Stand Owner (uncredited)
The Old Man & the Gun
Movie · as Waller
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Movie · as Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
The Moon’s Milk
Movie · as Captain Millipede (voice)
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
Movie · as Self
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
Movie · as Self
The Laughing Heart
Movie · as Narrator
Seven Psychopaths
Movie · as Zachariah Rigby
A Brief History of John Baldessari
Movie · as Narrator
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Movie · as (archive footage)
Twixt
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Monster of Nix
Movie · as Virgil (Voice)
The Book of Eli
Movie · as Engineer
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Movie · as Devil
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits: Under Review
Movie · as Self
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
Movie · as Self
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Movie · as Kneller
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert] poster](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/lxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg)
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
Movie · as Self
The Tiger and the Snow
Movie · as Self / Sè stesso
Domino
Movie · as Wanderer
Coffee and Cigarettes
Movie · as Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
Bukowski: Born Into This
Movie · as Self
Mystery Men
Movie · as Doc Heller
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits - Dead Man Walking, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Movie · as Self
Coffee and Cigarettes III
Movie · as Tom
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Daily Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Short Cuts
Movie · as Earl Piggot
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
Movie · as Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
TV · as Self - Musical Guest · 1 ep
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Movie · as R.M. Renfield
Until the End of the World
Movie · as Singer in Bar
Queens Logic
Movie · as Monte
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Movie · as Wolf
The Fisher King
Movie · as Disabled Vet (uncredited)
Fishing with John
TV · as Self · 1 ep
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
Movie · as Zack (Archive footage)
The Two Jakes
Movie · as Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
Movie · as Self
The Black Rider
Movie · as Himself
Cold Feet
Movie · as Kenny
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
Movie · as Silva
Mystery Train
Movie · as Radio DJ (voice)
The Simpsons
TV · as Lloyd (voice) · 1 ep
Tom Waits: Big Time
Movie · as Self
Candy Mountain
Movie · as Al Silk
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Movie · as Self - Organ/Guitar
Greasy Lake
Movie · as Narrator
Ironweed
Movie · as Rudy
Down by Law
Movie · as Zack
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
Movie · as Himself
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
Movie · as Self
The Cotton Club
Movie · as Irving Stark
The Stone Boy
Movie · as Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
The Outsiders
Movie · as Buck Merrill
Rumble Fish
Movie · as Benny
One from the Heart
Movie · as Trumpet player (uncredited)
Poetry in Motion
Movie · as Self
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
Movie · as Self
Wolfen
Movie · as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits: No Visitors After Midnight
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits for No One
Movie · as Self
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
Movie · as Self
Paradise Alley
Movie · as Mumbles
Tom Waits: Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
Movie · as Self
Austin City Limits
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Saturday Night Live
TV · as Self - Musical Guest · 1 ep
Rockpalast
TV · 1 ep
The Mike Douglas Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep