Tom Waits
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.
Known for
Acting89
movieRay Gunn
2026
Eyera (voice)
movieWildwood
2026
(voice)
movieHuman Nature in Eleven Parts
2025
Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
movieStar.Wav
2024
The Caller
movieLicorice Pizza
2021
Rex Blau
tvUltra City Smiths
2021
The Narrator (voice)
movieMotherless Brooklyn
2019
News Stand Owner (uncredited)
movieThe Dead Don't Die
2019
Hermit Bob
movieThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018
Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
movieThe Moon’s Milk
2018
Captain Millipede (voice)
movieSeven Psychopaths
2012
Zachariah Rigby
movieFinal Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012
(archive footage)
movieTwixt
2011
Narrator (voice)
movieThe Monster of Nix
2011
Virgil (Voice)
movieThe Book of Eli
2010
Engineer
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w342/lxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg)
movieThe Tiger and the Snow
2005
Self / Sè stesso
movieDomino
2005
Wanderer
movieCoffee and Cigarettes
2004
Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
movieMystery Men
1999
Doc Heller
movieGuy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
1997
Narrator (voice)
movieShort Cuts
1993
Earl Piggot
tvLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Self - Musical Guest
movieBram Stoker's Dracula
1992
R.M. Renfield
movieThe Fisher King
1991
Disabled Vet (uncredited)
movieUntil the End of the World
1991
Singer in Bar
movieThe Two Jakes
1990
Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
movieThe Black Rider
1990
Himself
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
1990
Zack (Archive footage)
tvThe Simpsons
1989
Lloyd (voice)
movieMystery Train
1989
Radio DJ (voice)
movieCold Feet
1989
Kenny
movieCandy Mountain
1988
Al Silk
movieGreasy Lake
1988
Narrator
movieRoy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
1988
Self - Organ/Guitar
movieThe Cotton Club
1984
Irving Stark
movieThe Stone Boy
1984
Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
movieRumble Fish
1983
Benny
movieThe Outsiders
1983
Buck Merrill
movieOne from the Heart
1982
Trumpet player (uncredited)
movieWolfen
1981
Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
movieParadise Alley
1978
Mumbles
tvSaturday Night Live
1975
Self - Musical Guest
Sound16
MARC RIBOT FEAT. TOM WAITS – Bella Ciao (Goodbye Beautiful)
2018
Original Music Composer
movieMiral
2010
Songs
movieThe Fallen
2010
Music
movieBunny
1998
Music, Music Producer, Songs
movieNight on Earth
1991
Original Music Composer, Songs
movieThe Black Rider
1990
Original Music Composer
movieTom Waits: Big Time
1988
Original Music Composer
movieDown by Law
1986
Songs
movieStreetwise
1984
Music
movieRita Ritter
1984
Original Music Composer
movieOne from the Heart
1982
Original Music Composer, Songs
Writing2
Crew1
movieRoofman
2025
Thanks
Lighting1
movieTom Waits: Big Time
1988
Lighting Design