Tom Waits
Date of birth: 1949-12-07
Place of birth: Pomona, California, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Thomas Alan Waits, 汤姆·威兹
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
The Outsiders
1983-03-25
In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the
Rumble Fish
1983-10-09
Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputati
Coffee and Cigarettes
2004-03-12
An anthology of eleven vignettes featuring star-studded casts of extremely unique individuals who al
Licorice Pizza
2021-11-26
The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacher
Down by Law
1986-09-20
A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.
Short Cuts
1993-10-01
Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver.
Until the End of the World
1991-09-12
In 1999, a woman's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash with two bank robbers, who
The Tiger and the Snow
2005-10-14
Love and injury in time of war. Attilio de Giovanni teaches poetry in Italy. He has a romantic soul,
The Book of Eli
2010-01-14
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sac
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009-10-01
After a carnival troupe saves his life, a man agrees to help its immortal leader collect five souls
Wristcutters: A Love Story
2007-10-19
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he disco
Mystery Men
1999-08-06
When Champion City's hero Captain Amazing is kidnapped by the recently paroled supervillain Casanova
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
2017-02-24
Black and White Night 30 is a re-imagined, re-edited, remastered and expanded version of the origina
Ironweed
1987-12-18
An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for
Big Time
1988-12-30
Bringing his unique sense of humor to this bizarre and original piece of moviemaking, Tom Waits take
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
1980-12-19
Tom Waits performs at Theatre le Palace in Paris, France. It was recorded for French television and
Candy Mountain
1988-01-20
A mediocre musician goes on the road in search of the world's greatest guitar maker.
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
1988-01-03
Recorded live at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, Roy is joined by an eclectic ensemble of rock and
Queens Logic
1991-02-01
When childhood friends Al, Dennis and Eliot get together for Ray's wedding, which may or may not hap
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991-12-06
Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South Am
Twixt
2011-09-10
A washed-up horror novelist arrives in a sleepy town on a book tour, only to stumble into a string o
Seven Psychopaths
2012-10-12
A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld aft
Cold Feet
1989-05-19
Three criminals run into complications when they attempt to smuggle emeralds across the Mexican bord
A Brief History of John Baldessari
2012-03-10
The epic life of a world-class artist, jammed into six minutes.
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
1999-10-30
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/lxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg)
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
2006-01-01
Singer/songwriter extraordinaire Tom Waits has become an American musical institution over the last
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
2009-02-06
Taped in 1978, Waits and his band of Herbert Hardesty, Arthur Richardson, John Thomassie and Greg Co
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Tom Waits: Under Review
2008-05-13
.It's almost 40 years since Tom Waits' debut record, and during a career that, for most fans, has qu
Tom Waits - No Visitors After Midnight
2006-11-09
Tom Waits live: Chicago, IL, USA, PBS Soundstage 1975 & London, UK, BBC Studios, "Live in Person" TV
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
2008-05-11
"One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur" examines Jack Kerouac's escape from post "On The Road
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
1978-01-01
Short documentary film on the great and powerful Tom Waits, including clips from live performances a
Paradise Alley
1978-09-22
Three Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each other
Domino
2005-10-14
The story of the life of Domino Harvey, who abandoned her career as a Ford model to become a bounty
Wildwood
Set beyond Portland’s city limits, in Wildwood. You’re not supposed to go there. You’re not even sup
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
1990-01-01
"Lounge Lizard" John Lurie — actor, performer, and musician — talks about love and life and gives a
Star.Wav
After prophesying the end of humanity, a reclusive conspiracy theorist receives a troubling call int
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989-11-05
Johnny Fortune (Damon Lowry) is no good to anyone, not mean, but just no good. Surrounded by violenc
The Laughing Heart
2013-01-01
From a Charles Bukowski poem
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
2024-01-16
A compilation of professional footage and fan films to reconstruct an entire Tom Waits concert from
The Cotton Club
1984-12-14
Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of en
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
2022-01-16
We look back at more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation while trying to crack a uni
The Two Jakes
1990-08-10
Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some ru
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
2015-09-18
A portrait of Keith Richards that takes us on a journey to discover the genesis of his sound as a so
The Fisher King
1991-09-20
Two troubled men face their terrible destinies and events of their past as they join together on a m
Father Mother Sister Brother
2025-12-18
Three stories concerning the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
1999-04-01
VH1 Storytellers: Season 4 Episode 2 - Tom Waits (1999)
This Is Sparklehorse
2022-10-12
An comprehensive look at the life and music of Mark Linkous, a influential figure in the alternative
One from the Heart
1982-02-11
In a dazzling, dreamlike Las Vegas, longtime couple Hank and Frannie break up on their fifth anniver
Mystery Train
1989-09-06
In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric nigh
Tom Waits for No One
1979-01-01
In this rotoscope animation, Tom Waits sings about "The One That Got Away."
The Old Man & the Gun
2018-09-27
The true story of Forrest Tucker, from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an
Coffee and Cigarettes III
1997-04-11
This shortcut repeats the structure of Coffee and Cigarettes. This time, Iggy Pop and Tom Waits meet
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
2017-02-19
Tom Waits is one of the most original musicians of the last five decades. Renowned for his gravelly
Bukowski: Born Into This
2003-01-18
Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: B
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018-11-09
Vignettes weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil Wa
The Stone Boy
1984-04-04
12-year-old Arnold Hillerman and his 17-year-old brother Eugene live with their family on a farm in
Poetry in Motion
1982-09-17
More than 20 contemporary North American poets recite, sing, and perform their work. Early in the fi
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
1993-03-26
A documentary insight behind the scenes of Roberts Altman's Short Cuts.
The Dead Don't Die
2019-05-15
In the sleepy town of Centerville, the lives of a number of interconnected characters are disrupted
The Moon’s Milk
2018-07-23
At a time when the moon could be reached by ladder, Captain Millipede, his daughter, a deaf milk min
The Absence of Eden
2024-04-12
An ICE Agent struggling with the moral dilemmas of border security and an undocumented woman fightin
Tom Waits: Rockpalast '77
1977-04-18
Excellent quality recording of Tom Waits, live at WDR Studios, in Koln, Germany on April 18th, 1977.
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
1990-12-01
This music special is dedicated to dispelling the prejudices associated with the HIV infection and r
Wolfen
1981-07-24
A New York City cop and an expert criminologist trying to solve a series of grisly deaths in which t
Motherless Brooklyn
2019-10-31
New York City, 1957. Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, tries to solv
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
1982-08-14
A short documentary on the Francis Ford Coppola musical One From the Heart.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
1992-11-13
Centuries-old vampire Count Dracula travels to Victorian London, where he becomes obsessed with Mina
The Monster of Nix
2011-06-01
Life is good in the idyllic fairytale village of Nix... until an all-devouring monster appears. Youn
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
1997-09-07
Interviews with Guy Maddin and his pals are included in this documentary about the Canadian film-mak
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
2025-02-11
Short vignettes explore different facets of human behavior and social issues.
Wild Horse Nine
Set in Santiago, Chile in 1973, the film follows CIA operatives Chris and Lee, whose trust in one an
Tom Waits - Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
1976-06-01
June 1976 Denmark DR TV Studios Original Source PAL VHS Recording from a TV show transcripted to DV
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
1986-11-22
Television concert documentary from the San Remo Festival (Club Tenco), Teatro Ariston. San Remo/ It
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
1985-10-16
Tom Waits 1985 performance of "16 Shells From A 30.6" and “In the Neighborhood” from the album 'Swor
Greasy Lake
1988-01-13
A short film from a collection of four Greasy Lake is a part of the Discovery Program: Four Short St
Temptation
1987-06-01
Bromberg’s music video for Tom Waits is characteristically multi-layered and expressive.
The Last Ride
2025-02-25
A journey among the forgotten: U.S. citizens experiencing homelessness, forced to live in extreme ma