Acting · Pomona, California, USA · Born December 7, 1949
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.
MovieRay Gunn
2026
as Eyera (voice)
MovieWild Horse Nine
2026
MovieWildwood
2026
as (voice)
MovieFather Mother Sister Brother
2025
as Father
MovieThe Last Ride
2025
as Self
MovieHuman Nature in Eleven Parts
2025
as Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
MovieStar.Wav
2024
as The Caller
MovieThe Absence of Eden
2024
as Hunley
MovieTom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
2024
as Self
MovieThis Is Sparklehorse
2022
as Self
MovieRobert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
2022
as Self
MovieLicorice Pizza
2021
as Rex Blau
TVUltra City Smiths
2021
as The Narrator (voice)
MovieMotherless Brooklyn
2019
as News Stand Owner (uncredited)
MovieThe Dead Don't Die
2019
as Hermit Bob
MovieThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs
2018
as Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
MovieThe Old Man & the Gun
2018
as Waller
MovieThe Moon’s Milk
2018
as Captain Millipede (voice)
MovieRoy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
2017
as Self
MovieTom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
2017
as Self
MovieKeith Richards: Under the Influence
2015
as Self
The Laughing Heart
2013
as Narrator
MovieSeven Psychopaths
2012
as Zachariah Rigby
MovieA Brief History of John Baldessari
2012
as Narrator
MovieFinal Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
2012
as (archive footage)
MovieTwixt
2011
as Narrator (voice)
MovieThe Monster of Nix
2011
as Virgil (Voice)
MovieThe Book of Eli
2010
as Engineer
MovieThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
2009
as Devil
MovieTom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
2009
as Self
Tom Waits: Under Review
2008
as Self
MovieOne Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
2008
as Self
MovieWristcutters: A Love Story
2007
as Kneller
![Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw342%2FlxpmTfyfn20JnsbJmjfUKlT7ugU.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
MovieTom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
2006
as Self
MovieThe Tiger and the Snow
2005
as Self / Sè stesso
MovieDomino
2005
as Wanderer
MovieCoffee and Cigarettes
2004
as Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
MovieBukowski: Born Into This
2003
as Self
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
1999
as Self
MovieMystery Men
1999
as Doc Heller
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
1999
as Self
MovieTom Waits - Dead Man Walking, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1998
as Self
MovieGuy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
1997
as Narrator (voice)
MovieCoffee and Cigarettes III
1997
as Tom
TVThe Daily Show
1996
as Self
MovieShort Cuts
1993
as Earl Piggot
TVLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Musical Guest
MovieLuck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
1993
as Self
MovieBram Stoker's Dracula
1992
as R.M. Renfield
MovieAt Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991
as Wolf
TVFishing with John
1991
as Self
MovieThe Fisher King
1991
as Disabled Vet (uncredited)
MovieUntil the End of the World
1991
as Singer in Bar
MovieQueens Logic
1991
as Monte
MovieRed Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
1990
as Self
MovieThe Two Jakes
1990
as Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
MovieThe Black Rider
1990
as Himself
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
1990
as Zack (Archive footage)
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Lloyd (voice)
MovieBearskin: An Urban Fairytale
1989
as Silva
MovieMystery Train
1989
as Radio DJ (voice)
MovieCold Feet
1989
as Kenny
MovieTom Waits: Big Time
1988
as Self
MovieCandy Mountain
1988
as Al Silk
MovieGreasy Lake
1988
as Narrator
MovieRoy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
1988
as Self - Organ/Guitar
MovieIronweed
1987
as Rudy
MovieTom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
1986
as Himself
MovieDown by Law
1986
as Zack
MovieTom Waits - Live On The Tube
1985
as Self
MovieThe Cotton Club
1984
as Irving Stark
MovieThe Stone Boy
1984
as Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
MovieRumble Fish
1983
as Benny
MovieThe Outsiders
1983
as Buck Merrill
MoviePoetry in Motion
1982
as Self
MovieThe Making of 'One from the Heart'
1982
as Self
MovieOne from the Heart
1982
as Trumpet player (uncredited)
MovieWolfen
1981
as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
MovieTom Waits at Theatre le Palace
1980
as Self
MovieTom Waits: No Visitors After Midnight
1979
as Self
Tom Waits for No One
1979
as Self
MovieParadise Alley
1978
as Mumbles
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
1978
as Self
Tom Waits: Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
1976
as Self
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Musical Guest
TVAustin City Limits
1975
as Self
TVRockpalast
1974
TVThe Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
Tom Waits - One Star Shining : The First Decade
as Self
