Tom Waits
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 7, 1949 (age 76)
- Place of birth
- Pomona, California, USA
- Credits
- 89
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
The Simpsons
1989TV
Lloyd (voice)
The Book of Eli
2010Movie
Engineer
Bram Stoker's Dracula
1992Movie
R.M. Renfield
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018Movie
Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
Seven Psychopaths
2012Movie
Zachariah Rigby
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009Movie
Devil
Filmography
Ray Gunn
2026Movie
Eye-Ra (voice)
Wild Horse Nine
2026Movie
Wildwood
2026Movie
Maxim (voice)
Who Is Martin Mull?
2026Movie
Self
Father Mother Sister Brother
2025Movie
Father
The Last Ride
2025Movie
Self
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
2025Movie
Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
Star.Wav
2024Movie
The Caller
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
2024Movie
Self
This Is Sparklehorse
2022Movie
Self
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
2022Movie
Self
Licorice Pizza
2021Movie
Rex Blau
Ultra City Smiths
2021TV
The Narrator (voice)
Motherless Brooklyn
2019Movie
News Stand Owner (uncredited)
The Dead Don't Die
2019Movie
Hermit Bob
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018Movie
Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
The Old Man & the Gun
2018Movie
Waller
The Moon’s Milk
2018Movie
Captain Millipede (voice)
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
2017Movie
Self
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
2017Movie
Self
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
2015Movie
Self
The Laughing Heart
2013Movie
Narrator
Seven Psychopaths
2012Movie
Zachariah Rigby
A Brief History of John Baldessari
2012Movie
Narrator
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012Movie
(archive footage)
Twixt
2011Movie
Narrator (voice)
The Monster of Nix
2011Movie
Virgil (Voice)
The Book of Eli
2010Movie
Engineer
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009Movie
Devil
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
2009Movie
Self
Tom Waits: Under Review
2008Movie
Self
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
2008Movie
Self
Wristcutters: A Love Story
2007Movie
Kneller
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
2006Movie
Self
The Tiger and the Snow
2005Movie
Self / Sè stesso
Domino
2005Movie
Wanderer
Coffee and Cigarettes
2003Movie
Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
Bukowski: Born Into This
2003Movie
Self
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
1999Movie
Self
Mystery Men
1999Movie
Doc Heller
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
1999Movie
Self
Tom Waits - Dead Man Walking, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1998Movie
Self
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
1997Movie
Narrator (voice)
Coffee and Cigarettes III
1997Movie
Tom
The Daily Show
1996TV
Self
Short Cuts
1993Movie
Earl Piggot
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993TV
Self - Musical Guest
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
1993Movie
Self
Bram Stoker's Dracula
1992Movie
R.M. Renfield
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991Movie
Wolf
Fishing with John
1991TV
Self
The Fisher King
1991Movie
Disabled Vet (uncredited)
Until the End of the World
1991Movie
Singer in Bar
Queens Logic
1991Movie
Monte
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
1990Movie
Self
The Two Jakes
1990Movie
Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
The Black Rider
1990Movie
Himself
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
1990Movie
Zack (Archive footage)
The Simpsons
1989TV
Lloyd (voice)
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989Movie
Silva
Mystery Train
1989Movie
Radio DJ (voice)
Cold Feet
1989Movie
Kenny
Tom Waits: Big Time
1988Movie
Self
Candy Mountain
1988Movie
Al Silk
Greasy Lake
1988Movie
Narrator
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
1988Movie
Self - Organ/Guitar
Ironweed
1987Movie
Rudy
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
1986Movie
Himself
Down by Law
1986Movie
Zack
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
1985Movie
Self
The Cotton Club
1984Movie
Irving Stark
The Stone Boy
1984Movie
Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
Rumble Fish
1983Movie
Benny
The Outsiders
1983Movie
Buck Merrill
Poetry in Motion
1982Movie
Self
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
1982Movie
Self
One from the Heart
1982Movie
Trumpet player (uncredited)
Wolfen
1981Movie
Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
1980Movie
Self
Tom Waits: No Visitors After Midnight
1979Movie
Self
Tom Waits for No One
1979Movie
Self
Paradise Alley
1978Movie
Mumbles
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
1978Movie
Self
Tom Waits: Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
1976Movie
Self
Saturday Night Live
1975TV
Self - Musical Guest
Austin City Limits
1975TV
Self
Rockpalast
1974TV
The Mike Douglas Show
1961TV
Self
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Movie
Self