
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits 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
Credits
- 2025 · Father Mother Sister Brother as Father
- 2024 · The Absence of Eden as Hunley
- 2021 · Licorice Pizza as Rex Blau
- 2021 · Ultra City Smiths as The Narrator (voice)
- 2019 · Motherless Brooklyn as News Stand Owner (uncredited)
- 2019 · The Dead Don't Die as Hermit Bob
- 2018 · The Ballad of Buster Scruggs as Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
- 2018 · The Old Man & the Gun as Waller
- 2018 · The Moon’s Milk as Captain Millipede (voice)
- 2017 · Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox as Self
- 2015 · Keith Richards: Under the Influence as Self
- 2012 · Seven Psychopaths as Zachariah Rigby
- 2011 · Twixt as Narrator (voice)
- 2010 · The Book of Eli as Engineer
- 2009 · The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus as Devil
- 2007 · Wristcutters: A Love Story as Kneller
- 2005 · Domino as Wanderer
- 1999 · Mystery Men as Doc Heller
- 1996 · The Daily Show as Self
- 1993 · Short Cuts as Earl Piggot
- 1993 · Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Musical Guest
- 1992 · Bram Stoker's Dracula as R.M. Renfield
- 1991 · The Fisher King as Disabled Vet (uncredited)
- 1991 · Until the End of the World as Singer in Bar
- 1991 · Queens Logic as Monte
- 1990 · Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter as Self
- 1990 · The Two Jakes as Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
- 1989 · The Simpsons as Lloyd (voice)
- 1989 · Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale as Silva
- 1989 · Mystery Train as Radio DJ (voice)
- 1989 · Cold Feet as Kenny
- 1988 · Big Time as Self
- 1988 · Candy Mountain as Al Silk
- 1987 · Ironweed as Rudy
- 1986 · Down by Law as Zack
- 1984 · The Cotton Club as Irving Stark
- 1983 · The Outsiders as Buck Merrill
- 1982 · Poetry in Motion as Self
- 1982 · One from the Heart as Trumpet player (uncredited)
- 1981 · Wolfen as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
- 1978 · Paradise Alley as Mumbles
- 1975 · Saturday Night Live as Self - Musical Guest
- 1975 · Austin City Limits as Self
- 1974 · Rockpalast as
- 1961 · The Mike Douglas Show as Self
- Future · Wild Horse Nine as
- 2025 · The Last Ride as Self
- 2025 · Human Nature in Eleven Parts as Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
- 2024 · Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience as Self
- 2022 · This Is Sparklehorse as Self
- 2022 · Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious as Self
- 2017 · Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30 as Self
- 2013 · The Laughing Heart as Narrator
- 2012 · A Brief History of John Baldessari as Narrator
- 2011 · The Monster of Nix as Virgil (Voice)
- 2009 · Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin as Self
- 2008 · Tom Waits: Under Review as Self
- 2008 · One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur as Self
- 2006 · Tom Waits - No Visitors After Midnight as Self
- 2006 · Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert] as Self
- 2005 · The Tiger and the Snow as Self / Sè stesso
- 2004 · Coffee and Cigarettes as Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
- 2003 · Bukowski: Born Into This as Self
- 1999 · Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit as Self
- 1999 · Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers as Self
- 1997 · Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight as Narrator (voice)
- 1997 · Coffee and Cigarettes III as Tom
- 1993 · Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country as Self
- 1991 · At Play in the Fields of the Lord as Wolf
- 1991 · Fishing with John as Self
- 1990 · John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone as Zack (Archive footage)
- 1988 · Greasy Lake as Narrator
- 1988 · Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night as Self - Organ/Guitar
- 1987 · Temptation as
- 1986 · Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy as Himself
- 1985 · Tom Waits - Live On The Tube as Self
- 1984 · The Stone Boy as Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
- 1983 · Rumble Fish as Benny
- 1980 · Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace as Self
- 1979 · Tom Waits for No One as Self
- 1978 · Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna as Self
- Future · Wildwood as (voice)
- 1982 · The Making of 'One from the Heart' as Self
- 1977 · Tom Waits: Rockpalast '77 as Self
- Future · Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade as Self
- 1976 · Tom Waits - Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time as Self
- Future · Star.Wav as The Caller