Tom Waits
Known for: Acting
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
Series
The Simpsons
Lloyd (voice)
1989
Series
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Musical Guest
1975
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Musical Guest
1993
Series
Rockpalast
1974
Series
Austin City Limits
Self
1975
Film
Bram Stoker's Dracula
R.M. Renfield
1992
Film
The Outsiders
Buck Merrill
1983
Film
The Book of Eli
Engineer
2010
Film
Licorice Pizza
Rex Blau
2021
Film
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
2018
Film
Wildwood
(voice)
2026
Film
Seven Psychopaths
Zachariah Rigby
2012
Film
Mystery Men
Doc Heller
1999
Film
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Devil
2009
Film
The Dead Don't Die
Hermit Bob
2019
Film
Father Mother Sister Brother
Father
2025
Film
The Fisher King
Disabled Vet (uncredited)
1991
Film
Rumble Fish
Benny
1983
Film
Wild Horse Nine
2026
Film
Motherless Brooklyn
News Stand Owner (uncredited)
2019
Series
Ultra City Smiths
The Narrator (voice)
2021
Film
Mystery Train
Radio DJ (voice)
1989
Film
Short Cuts
Earl Piggot
1993
Film
Until the End of the World
Singer in Bar
1991
Film
Coffee and Cigarettes
Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
2004
Film
Domino
Wanderer
2005
Film
Wristcutters: A Love Story
Kneller
2007
Film
The Cotton Club
Irving Stark
1984
Film
Ray Gunn
Eyera (voice)
2026
Film
Down by Law
Zack
1986
Film
Paradise Alley
Mumbles
1978
Film
Twixt
Narrator (voice)
2011
Film
The Two Jakes
Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
1990
Film
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
2012
Film
Wolfen
Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
1981
Film
The Old Man & the Gun
Waller
2018
Film
Ironweed
Rudy
1987
Series
Fishing with John
Self
1991
Film
One from the Heart
Trumpet player (uncredited)
1982
Film
Queens Logic
Monte
1991
Film
The Tiger and the Snow
Self / Sè stesso
2005
Film
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Organ/Guitar
1988
Film
The Absence of Eden
Hunley
2024
Film
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Wolf
1991
Film
The Stone Boy
Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
1984
Film
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
Self
1990
Film
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
Self
2017
Film
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
Narrator (voice)
1997
Film
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
Silva
1989
Film
Cold Feet
Kenny
1989
Film
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
Self
1993
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
Self
1999
Film
Bukowski: Born Into This
Self
2003
Film
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
Self
2015
Film
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
Self
1982
Film
Candy Mountain
Al Silk
1988
Film
Coffee and Cigarettes III
Tom
1997
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/lxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg)
Film
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
Self
2006
Film
A Brief History of John Baldessari
Narrator
2012
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
Zack (Archive footage)
1990
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
Self
1999
Film
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
2025
Film
The Moon’s Milk
Captain Millipede (voice)
2018
Film
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
Self
2022
Film
The Black Rider
Himself
1990
Film
Poetry in Motion
Self
1982
Film
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
Self
2017
The Laughing Heart
Narrator
2013
Film
Greasy Lake
Narrator
1988
Tom Waits: Under Review
Self
2008
Film
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
Self
1985
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
Self
1978
Film
The Monster of Nix
Virgil (Voice)
2011
Tom Waits for No One
Self
1979
Film
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
Self
2008
Film
Tom Waits - Dead Man Walking, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Self
1998
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Self
Film
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
Self
2009
Film
Tom Waits: No Visitors After Midnight
Self
1979
Film
This Is Sparklehorse
Self
2022
Film
Tom Waits: Big Time
Self
1988
Film
Star.Wav
The Caller
2024
Film
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
Self
1980
Film
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
Self
2024
Film
The Last Ride
Self
2025
Film
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
Himself
1986
Tom Waits: Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
Self
1976