Tom Waits

Personal Info

Birthday

December 7, 1949

(75 years old)

Place of Birth

Pomona, California, USA

Also Known As

Thomas Alan Waits

汤姆·威兹

Tom Waits

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.

Known For

The Simpsons

Bram Stoker's Dracula

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Book of Eli

The Outsiders

The Dead Don't Die

Licorice Pizza

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Filmography

2025
Father Mother Sister Brother
as Father
The Last Ride
as Self
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
as Narrator "Laughing Heart" (archive footage)
2024
The Absence of Eden
as Hunley
Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Concert Experience
as Self
2022
This Is Sparklehorse
as Self
Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious
as Self
2021
Licorice Pizza
as Rex Blau
2019
Motherless Brooklyn
as News Stand Owner (uncredited)
The Dead Don't Die
as Hermit Bob
2018
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
as Prospector (segment "All Gold Canyon")
The Old Man & the Gun
as Waller
The Moon’s Milk
as Captain Millipede (voice)
2017
Roy Orbison: Black and White Night 30
as Self
Tom Waits: Tales from a Cracked Jukebox
as Self
2015
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
as Self
2013
The Laughing Heart
as Narrator
2012
Seven Psychopaths
as Zachariah Rigby
A Brief History of John Baldessari
as Narrator
2011
Twixt
as Narrator (voice)
The Monster of Nix
as Virgil (Voice)
2010
The Book of Eli
as Engineer
2009
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
as Devil
Tom Waits: Romeo Bleeding - Live from Austin
as Self
2008
Tom Waits: Under Review
as Self
One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
as Self
2007
Wristcutters: A Love Story
as Kneller
2006
Tom Waits - No Visitors After Midnight
as Self
Tom Waits - Burma Shave [Live Concert]
as Self
2005
Domino
as Wanderer
The Tiger and the Snow
as Self / Sè stesso
2004
Coffee and Cigarettes
as Tom (segment "Somewhere in California")
2003
Bukowski: Born Into This
as Self
1999
Tom Waits - Bridge School Benefit
as Self
Mystery Men
as Doc Heller
Tom Waits: VH1 Storytellers
as Self
1997
Guy Maddin: Waiting for Twilight
as Narrator (voice)
Coffee and Cigarettes III
as Tom
1993
Short Cuts
as Earl Piggot
Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country
as Self
1992
Bram Stoker's Dracula
as R.M. Renfield
1991
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
as Wolf
The Fisher King
as Disabled Vet (uncredited)
Until the End of the World
as Singer in Bar
Queens Logic
as Monte
1990
Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter
as Self
The Two Jakes
as Plainclothes Policeman (uncredited)
John Lurie: A Lounge Lizard Alone
as Zack (Archive footage)
1989
Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale
as Silva
Mystery Train
as Radio DJ (voice)
Cold Feet
as Kenny
1988
Big Time
as Self
Candy Mountain
as Al Silk
Greasy Lake
as Narrator
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
as Self - Organ/Guitar
1987
Ironweed
as Rudy
1986
Tom Waits - Live at Premio Tenco in Sanremo Italy
as Himself
Down by Law
as Zack
1985
Tom Waits - Live On The Tube
as Self
1984
The Cotton Club
as Irving Stark
The Stone Boy
as Petrified man at carnival (uncredited)
1983
Rumble Fish
as Benny
The Outsiders
as Buck Merrill
1982
Poetry in Motion
as Self
The Making of 'One from the Heart'
as Self
One from the Heart
as Trumpet player (uncredited)
1981
Wolfen
as Drunken Bar Owner (uncredited)
1980
Tom Waits at Theatre le Palace
as Self
1979
Tom Waits for No One
as Self
1978
Paradise Alley
as Mumbles
Tom Waits: A Day in Vienna
as Self
1977
Tom Waits: Rockpalast '77
as Self
1976
Tom Waits - Elephant Beer Blues - Songs After Closing Time
as Self