Articles

March 31, 2010: The Genius Known as Tom Waits

Today I am here to throw accolades at one of my favorite character actors in the modern era, Tom Waits. He is the quintessential showman and is at home on any stage performing his unique style of music or acting in a big Hollywood movie.  One could easily see him moonlighting as the ringmaster for Cirque de Soleil.

I first noticed Waits on the silver screen in 1986 in a Jim Jarmusch film called Down by Law, starring fellow musician John Lurie and the not yet discovered Roberto Benigni.  In this and many other films he often plays some fringe member of society.  In his most recent role as the devil in Terry Gilliam’s Dr. Parnassus, Waits is spectacular, I’m not sure if this is a complement but, he is a perfect fit.

His acting career alone is enough to rest his laurels on.  However, before he ever found his way in front of a camera, he was a successful and a respected musician.  The only way to really define his idiosyncratic style of music is to call it Tom Waits music.  He crosses many boundaries and genre lines. The word genius can easily be applied.

When he performs he is in that mode 100%.  It is hard to know where Tom Waits the performer ends and Tom Waits the person begins.  So much of who he is comes pouring out in his work.   He is highly respected among his peers and has worked with A-list actors, directors and musicians.   Whenever the name Tom Waits is mentioned to anyone who knows his work, the immediate and universal response is, “I love Tom Waits.”