Tom waits has said that when he was young, he'd spend the entire day at the movies when he could. Now, he's a little reclusive and doesn't really share is interests that much. I would guess that since he's so good at his many pursuits, Tom's work and family take up most of his time.
I'd like to meet:
I'd like to meet the Jitterbug boy, Eyeball kid, Small Change, Captain Charon, Dave the Butcher, The Black Rider, the Gun Street Girl, Martha, Poor Edward, Coney Island Baby, Ruby, Table Top Joe, Tom Traubert, Mr. Seigel, all the Nighthawks at the Diner, Georgia Lee, Gin Soaked Boy, the Bone Machine Operator, Frank, Black Market Baby, Chocolate Jesus, Ice Cream Man, Rosie, Carnival Bob, The Bride of Raindog, Alice, Jersey Girl, and a hooker in Minneapolis.
Music:
Tom Wait's first album was James Brown "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." He's said his musical influences are, but not limited to, Mose Allison, Thelonious Monk, Randy Newman, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Ray Charles, Stephen Foster, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mercer, Oscar Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Rudy Ray Moore, Oscar Brown Jr, Ken Nordine, Lord Buckley, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Martin Mull, Bob Dorough, Red Tyler, Huey Piano Smith, Art Tatum, Professor Longhair, Thelonious Monk, Al Cohn, Steve Gilmore, Charles Mingus, Tampa Red, Bo Carter, Memphis Minnie, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Clarence "Frog" McHenry, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, Bill Evans, Doctor John, Bing Crosby, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, and Howlin' Wolf.
Movies:
Tom has been in Down By Law, Mystery Train, Cold Feet, Domino, Short Cuts, Bram Stoker's Dracula, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, The Fisher King, Queens Logic, Rumble Fish, Coffee and Cigarettes, Big Time, The Good Heart (PreProduction, 2007), One From the Heart, Texas Lullaby (Filming, 2007), Wristcutters, Mystery Men, The Two Jakes, Bearskin, Candy Mountain, Ironweed, The Cotton Club, Rumble Fish, Wolfen (uncredited), and Paradise Alley.
Other movie trivia regarding Waits?
-"Burma Shave" was based on the Nick Ray movie, They Live By Night (1947).
-"On the Nickel" was written for the Ralph Waites motion picture of the same name.
- "Potter's Field" was inspired by Pickup On South Street (Sam Fuller, 1952).
Waits has said his favorite movies are La Strada, 8 1/2, and the Kurosawa film Ikiru.
Television:
Tom Waits has appeared on Austin City Limits, Dave Letterman a few times, Encore movie channel (they show Big Time once every Heart of Saturday Night), Fishing with John, Saturday Night Live once or twice...
Books:
Tom has said his favorite writers are Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Michael C. Ford. Robert Webb, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Larry McMurtry, Harper Lee, Sam Jones, Eugene O'Neill, the Grove Press gang, Nelson Algren's work, Johnny Rechy: City of Night, Numbers and The Fourth Angel, Collin McInnes, Grimm's Fairytales, Rod Serling, Breece DJ Pancake, Woody Guthrie, Bill Hicks, Fellini, Frank Stanford, Willie Dixon, Bob Dylan, O. Henry, and Hubert Selby Junior.
Heroes:
Tom Waits has said his hero is Jack Kerouac.
