Tom Waits' Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Canada After Dark (CA) Tom Waits The Cutting Edge Tom Waits

Main Movie Roles 2010 - The Book of Eli 2009 - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 2005 - Domino 2004 - Coffee and Cigarettes 1999 - Mystery Men 1993 - Short Cuts 1992 - Bram Stoker's Dracula 1991 - Until the End of the World 1991 - The Fisher King 1990 - The Two Jakes 1989 - Mystery Train 1987 - Ironweed 1986 - Down by Law 1984 - Streetwise 1984 - The Cotton Club 1983 - The Outsiders 1983 - Rumble Fish 1982 - One from the Heart 1981 - Wolfen 1978 - Paradise Alley

BIOGRAPHY:

Described as one of the last beatniks of the contemporary music, Tom Waits - in fact - had two separate careers. From 1973 (LP "Closing Time") to 1983 ("One From The Heart" soundtrack), he recorded nine LPs for Asylum Records, writing songs mainly in the manner of Tin Pan Alley, mixing them with jazz and blues. Extraordinarily, he never produced a hit, but he earned a cult following all over the world. In 1983 he signed with Island Records, and released a series of albums that stunned the music world. Beginning with "Swordfishtrombones", he introduced a whole new orchestration, which included some of the instruments invented by Harry Partch. He found a new ground for his innovations, searching in sound fields that never before were searched. This second part of his career coincided with his marriage to Kathleen Brennan, a former writer for Francis Ford Coppola (Zoetrope (1999)). His LPs "Rain Dogs" (1985), "Big Time" (soundtrack) and "The Black Rider" are today what Kurt Weill's music was once. "The Black Rider" brings music written for the show directed by Bob Wilson and staged in Germany.


TRIVIA:

• Bears such a striking resemblance to actor 'Ron Perlman' (qv) that he was once credited under the name "Ron Perlman" on a movie poster.
• Being a family friend of the Coppolas, he performed at the wedding of 'Sofia Coppola' (qv) and 'Spike Jonze' (qv).
• Children: Kellesimone (b. 1983), Casey Xavier (b. 1985), Sullivan (b. 1993).
• Is a good friend of 'Keith Richards (II)' (qv) who makes frequent appearances as a guitarist on his records.
• His role in _Domino (2006)_ (qv) is immediately preceded by his own song "Jesus Gonna Be Here," from his 1992 album "Bone Machine".
• Lives in Sonoma County, California.
• The photo on the cover of his album "Rain Dogs" includes a man who many believe to be him. It was one of a series of photos taken at the Cafe Lehmitz in Hamburg by the Swedish photographer Anders Petersen. Waits reportedly saw the photo at an exhibition, was taken by the similarity of him and the man in the photo, and asked permission from the photographer to use it as an album cover.
• Originally slated to play Lefty, one of the singing cowboys in _A Prairie Home Companion (2006)_ (qv).