Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Thomas Alan Waits , 汤姆·威兹

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Pomona, California, USA

Homepage: http://www.tomwaits.com/

Movie Involvements: 54

TV Involvements: 1


Most Famous Work

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Waits, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Most Famous Work

Austin City Limits
Average
6

Austin City Limits

(1975) Self
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Average
8

Bram Stoker's Dracula

(1992) R.M. Renfield
The Book of Eli
Average
7

The Book of Eli

(2010) Engineer
The Outsiders
Average
7

The Outsiders

(1983) Buck Merrill
Domino
Average
6

Domino

(2005) Wanderer
Rumble Fish
Average
7

Rumble Fish

(1983) Benny
Motherless Brooklyn
Average
7

Motherless Brooklyn

(2019) News Stand Owner (uncredited)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Average
6

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2023 Hunley
2022 Self
Himself
2021 Rex Blau
The Narrator (voice)
2019 News Stand Owner (uncredited)
Hermit Bob
2018 Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
Waller
Captain Millipede (voice)
2017 Self
Self
2015 Self
2013 Narrator
2012 Zachariah Rigby
Narrator
2011 Narrator (voice)
Virgil (Voice)
2010 Engineer
2009 Devil
Himself
2008 Himself
Himself
2007 Kneller
2006 Himself
2005 Himself / Sè stesso
Wanderer
2004 Tom
2003 Himself
1999 Himself
Doc Heller
Himself
1997 The Narrator
1996 Self
1993 Self - Musical Guest
Earl Piggot
Self
Tom
1992 R.M. Renfield
1991 Wolf
Self
Disabled Vet (uncredited)
Singer in Bar (uncredited)
Monte
1990 Self
Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
Zack (Archive footage)
1989 N/A
Silva
Radio DJ (voice)
Kenny
1988 Himself
Al Silk
Self - Organ/Guitar
1987 Rudy
1986 Zack
1984 Irving Stark
Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
1983 Benny
Buck Merrill
1982 Himself
Himself
Trumpet player (uncredited)
1981 Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
1980 Himself
1979 Himself
Himself
1978 Mumbles
himself
1977 Himself
1975 Self - Musical Guest
Self
1961 Self
(voice)
Himself
The Caller
Year Character Movie/Tv

Sound

Writing

Year Role Movie/Tv
2001 Lyricist
1988 Writer
Year Role Movie/Tv

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