Frank Zappa
Known for: Acting
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the Zappa Family Trust. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Zappa, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Musical Guest
1975
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host & Musical Guest
1975
Series
Miami Vice
Mario Fuente
1984
Series
Omnibus
Self
1967
Series
The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Pope (voice)
1991
Series
Classic Albums
Self (archive footage)
1997
Series
The Monkees
Self (uncredited)
1966
Series
Faerie Tale Theatre
Attilla
1982
Series
Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop
Self (archive footage)
2005
Series
Beat-Club
Self
1965
Film
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Zappa
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Self (archive footage)
2025
Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
Nova '78
Self (archive footage)
2026
Series
Laurel Canyon
Self (archive footage)
2020
Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
The Wrecking Crew
Self (archive footage)
2008
Film
Head
The Critic
1968
Film
The Velvet Underground
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2021
Series
Late Night Line-Up
Himself
1964
Film
Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
Himself
2015
Film
200 Motels
Member of Mothers of Invention (uncredited)
1971
Film
Take Your Pills
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Fuck
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
Led Zeppelin Played Here
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Echo in the Canyon
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2019
Film
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
Self
2008
Film
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
The Yellow Shark
Self
1992
Film
Mondo Hollywood
1967
Film
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
Himself (archive Footage)
2014
Film
Marian Briozzo
Himself (archive footage)
2018
Film
Cover Your Ears
Self - Musician (archive footage)
2023
A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa
Self
1993
Film
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
Self
1991
Film
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
Mike Nesmith (archive footage)
1997
Film
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
2024
Film
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
Himself
1993
Film
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Self
1972
Film
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
Self (archive footage)
2007
Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere
Self
1980
Series
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Self
1967
Film
Funny
Self
1988
Film
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
Attila
1984
Film
Derailroaded
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Pink Floyd: Amougies Pop Festival
1970
Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth
Self
1991
Film
An Evening with Frank Zappa During Which... The Torture Never Stops
Self
2008
Film
Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List
Himself
2010
The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years
Self
1982
Porridge and kerosene
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
Super Duper Alice Cooper
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Decade
Self
1989
Film
The Big T.N.T. Show
Self (uncredited)
1965
Film
Rock this Town
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
Self
2021
EAV Rarities
Self (archive footage)
2006
Film
Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Deep Purple: Made In Japan
Self (archive footage)
1972
Film
You Are What You Eat
1968
Film
The Making of 200 Motels
Self
1971
Služební cesta podporučíka Svěráka
Self (archive footage)
1989
Film
All My Loving
Self
1968
Film
Larry Flynt for President
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Frank Zappa
Self
1971
Film
Cocaine Blues
Himself
1983
Film
Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep
Self (guitar, vocals)
2025
Good Evening — I'm Jonathan King
Himself
1967
Film
Video from Hell
Self
1987
Film
Uncle Meat
Self / The Imaginary Director
1987
The Male Swagger
Guitarist (archive footage)
Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
Baby Snakes
Self
1979
Film
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
Self
1988
Film
Pražákům, těm je hej
Frank Zappa
1991
Frank Zappa: Phase II - The Big Note
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
Himself
2013
Film
Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona
1988
Film
From Straight to Bizarre
Self
2012
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
Himself (archive footage)
1997
Film
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Self
1967
Film
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Self
1987
Film
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
Self
1982
Film
The Art of Dissent
Self - Subject (archive footage)
2021
Film
Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives
Self
2008
Film
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
Self
1970
Film
Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music
2007
Film
Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around
Self
1978
Film
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
2007
Film
Frank Zappa: Music In Review
Self (archive footage)
2008
Film
Cheepnis
Himself
2014
Film
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Self (archive footage)
2015
Film
Frank Zappa: Opopoppa Stockholm, Sweden
1973
Film
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
1971
Film
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
Self
1985
Film
Sex in Today's World
Self
1967
Film
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Self
1969
Film
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
Himself
2009
Film
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
Self
1985
Film
Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme
Himself
2005
Zapped: Frank Zappa par Frank Zappa
Self - Subject (archive footage)
2016
Film
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
Self
2016
Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die
Self (archive footage)
2000
Frank Zappa - John, Dan And Me
Himself
2004
Your vote
Self
1991