Acting
Tom Waits
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.
Filmography
Wildwood
Film · 2026
Wild Horse Nine
Film · 2026
Ray Gunn
Film · 2026
Who Is Martin Mull?
Film · 2026
Father Mother Sister Brother
Film · 2025
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Film · 2025
The Last Ride
Film · 2025
Star.Wav
Film · 2024
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
Film · 2024
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
Film · 2022
This Is Sparklehorse
Film · 2022
Licorice Pizza
Film · 2021
Ultra City Smiths
Series · 2021
The Dead Don't Die
Film · 2019
Motherless Brooklyn
Film · 2019
The Old Man & the Gun
Film · 2018
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Film · 2018
The Moon’s Milk
Film · 2018
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
Film · 2017
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
Film · 2017
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
Film · 2015
The Laughing Heart
Film · 2013
Seven Psychopaths
Film · 2012
A Brief History of John Baldessari
Film · 2012
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Film · 2012
Twixt
Film · 2011
The Monster of Nix
Film · 2011
The Book of Eli
Film · 2010
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Film · 2009
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
Film · 2009
Tom Waits: Under Review
Film · 2008
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
Film · 2008
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Film · 2007
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw500%2FlxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
Film · 2006
The Tiger and the Snow
Film · 2005
Domino
Film · 2005
Coffee and Cigarettes
Film · 2004
Bukowski: Born Into This
Film · 2003
Mystery Men
Film · 1999
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
Film · 1999
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
Film · 1999
Tom Waits - Dead Man Walking, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Film · 1998
Coffee and Cigarettes III
Film · 1997
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
Film · 1997
The Daily Show
Series · 1996
Short Cuts
Film · 1993
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
Film · 1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Series · 1993
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Film · 1992
Until the End of the World
Film · 1991
Queens Logic
Film · 1991
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Film · 1991
The Fisher King
Film · 1991
Fishing with John
Series · 1991
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
Film · 1990
The Two Jakes
Film · 1990
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
Film · 1990
The Black Rider
Film · 1990
Cold Feet
Film · 1989
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
Film · 1989
Mystery Train
Film · 1989
The Simpsons
Series · 1989
Tom Waits: Big Time
Film · 1988
Candy Mountain
Film · 1988
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Film · 1988
Greasy Lake
Film · 1988
Ironweed
Film · 1987
Down by Law
Film · 1986
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
Film · 1986
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
Film · 1985
The Cotton Club
Film · 1984
The Stone Boy
Film · 1984
The Outsiders
Film · 1983
Rumble Fish
Film · 1983
One from the Heart
Film · 1982
Poetry in Motion
Film · 1982
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
Film · 1982
Wolfen
Film · 1981
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
Film · 1980
Tom Waits: No Visitors After Midnight
Film · 1979
Tom Waits for No One
Film · 1979
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
Film · 1978
Paradise Alley
Film · 1978
Tom Waits: Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
Film · 1976
Austin City Limits
Series · 1975
Saturday Night Live
Series · 1975
Rockpalast
Series · 1974
The Mike Douglas Show
Series · 1961
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Film