From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, his incorporation of pre-rock music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has worked as a composer for movies and musical plays and as a supporting actor in films, including Down By Law, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Wristcutters: A Love Story. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his soundtrack work on One from the Heart. Lyrically, Waits' songs frequently present atmospheric portrayals of grotesque, often seedy characters and places – although he has also shown a penchant for more conventional ballads. He has a cult following and has influenced subsequent songwriters despite having little radio or music video support. His songs are best-known to the general public in the form of cover versions by more visible artists: "Jersey Girl", performed by Bruce Springsteen, "Ol' 55", performed by the Eagles, and "Downtown Train", performed by Rod Stewart. Although Waits' albums have met with mixed commercial success in his native United States, they have occasionally achieved gold album sales status in other countries. He has been nominated for a number of major music awards and has won Grammy Awards for two albums, Bone Machine and Mule Variations. In 2010, Waits was chosen to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Waits currently lives in Sonoma County, California with his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and three children. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Waits, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie | Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade | Himself | 2025 |
Movie | Licorice Pizza | Rex Blau | 2021-11-26 |
Series | Ultra City Smiths | The Narrator (voice) | 2021-09-13 |
Movie | The Dead Don't Die | Hermit Bob | 2019-05-15 |
Movie | Motherless Brooklyn | News Stand Owner (uncredited) | 2019-10-31 |
Movie | The Old Man & the Gun | Waller | 2018-09-27 |
Movie | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs | Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon") | 2018-11-09 |
Movie | Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox | Self | 2017-02-19 |
Movie | Keith Richards: Under the Influence | Self | 2015-09-18 |
Movie | The Laughing Heart | Narrator | 2013-01-01 |
Movie | Seven Psychopaths | Zachariah Rigby | 2012-10-12 |
Movie | A Brief History of John Baldessari | Narrator | 2012-03-10 |
Movie | Twixt | Narrator (voice) | 2011-09-30 |
Movie | The Monster of Nix | Virgil (Voice) | 2011-06-01 |
Movie | The Book of Eli | Engineer | 2010-01-14 |
Movie | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Devil | 2009-10-01 |
Movie | Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin | Himself | 2009-02-06 |
Movie | One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur | Himself | 2008-05-11 |
Movie | Tom Waits: Under Review | Himself | 2008-05-13 |
Movie | Wristcutters: A Love Story | Kneller | 2007-10-19 |
Movie | Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert] | Himself | 2006-01-01 |
Movie | Domino | Wanderer | 2005-10-14 |
Movie | The Tiger and the Snow | Himself / Sè stesso | 2005-10-14 |
Movie | Coffee and Cigarettes | Tom (segment "Somewhere in California") | 2004-03-12 |
Movie | Bukowski: Born Into This | Himself | 2003-01-18 |
Movie | Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit | Himself | 1999-10-30 |
Movie | Mystery Men | Doc Heller | 1999-08-06 |
Series | The Daily Show | Unknown | 1996-07-22 |
Series | Late Night with Conan O'Brien | Unknown | 1993-09-13 |
Movie | Short Cuts | Earl Piggot | 1993-09-05 |
Movie | Bram Stoker's Dracula | R.M. Renfield | 1992-11-13 |
Series | Fishing with John | 1991-11-20 | |
Movie | At Play in the Fields of the Lord | Wolf | 1991-12-06 |
Movie | Queens Logic | Monte | 1991-02-01 |
Movie | Until the End of the World | Singer in Bar (uncredited) | 1991-09-12 |
Movie | The Fisher King | Disabled Vet (uncredited) | 1991-09-20 |
Movie | John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone | Zack (Archive footage) | 1990-01-01 |
Movie | Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter | Self | 1990-12-01 |
Movie | The Two Jakes | Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited) | 1990-08-10 |
Movie | Cold Feet | Kenny | 1989-05-19 |
Movie | Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale | Silva | 1989-11-05 |
Movie | Mystery Train | Radio DJ (voice) | 1989-09-06 |
Movie | Big Time | Himself | 1988-12-30 |
Movie | Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night | Self - Organ/Guitar | 1988-01-03 |
Movie | Candy Mountain | Al Silk | 1988-01-20 |
Movie | Ironweed | Rudy | 1987-12-18 |
Movie | Down by Law | Zack | 1986-09-20 |
Movie | Streetwise | Himself | 1984-12-07 |
Movie | The Stone Boy | Petrified man at carnival (uncredited) | 1984-04-04 |
Movie | The Cotton Club | Irving Stark | 1984-12-14 |
Movie | The Outsiders | Buck Merrill | 1983-03-25 |
Movie | Rumble Fish | Benny | 1983-10-09 |
Movie | One from the Heart | Trumpet player (uncredited) | 1982-02-11 |
Movie | Poetry in Motion | Himself | 1982-09-17 |
Movie | Wolfen | Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited) | 1981-07-24 |
Movie | Tom Waits - No Visitors After Midnight | Himself | 1979-07-27 |
Movie | Paradise Alley | Mumbles | 1978-09-22 |
Movie | Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna | himself | 1978-01-01 |
Series | Saturday Night Live | Unknown | 1975-10-11 |
Series | Austin City Limits | Unknown | 1975-01-01 |