Image of Tom Waits

Tom Waits

​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.


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Born:
Dec 7, 1949 In Pomona, California, USA
Movie/TV Credits:
60
First Appeared:
In the movie Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
Latest Project:
Movie Licorice Pizza 2021-11-26
Known For
Poster of The Daily Show
Poster of Short Cuts
Poster of Fishing with John
Poster of Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Filmography
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