Frank Zappa
Acting • Born 1940-12-21 – Died 1993-12-04
Biography
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the Zappa Family Trust. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Zappa, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
113 credits
Sex in Today's World
Movie • 1967
Self
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Movie • 1967
Self
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
Movie • 2014
Himself (archive Footage)
Video from Hell
Movie • 1987
Self
Cheepnis
Movie • 2014
Himself
The Making of 200 Motels
Movie • 1971
Self
200 Motels
Movie • 1971
Member of Mothers of Invention (uncredited)
Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops
Movie • 2008
Self
Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere
Movie • 1980
Self
Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: Phase II - The Big Note
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Movie • 1969
Self
Zapped: Frank Zappa par Frank Zappa
Movie • 2016
Self - Subject (archive footage)
Funny
Movie • 1988
Self
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
Movie • 1997
Mike Nesmith (archive footage)
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Fuck
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
EAV Rarities
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
Super Duper Alice Cooper
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
Deep Purple: Made In Japan
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
Led Zeppelin Played Here
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Movie • 2015
Self (archive footage)
Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Head
Movie • 1968
The Critic
Frank Zappa: Music In Review
Movie • 2008
Self (archive footage)
A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa
Movie • 1993
Self
Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth
Movie • 1991
Self
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
Movie • 1970
Self
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Movie • 1972
Self
The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years
Movie • 1982
Self
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Echo in the Canyon
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Take Your Pills
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Larry Flynt for President
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Movie • 1987
Self
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
Movie • 1985
Self
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
Movie • 1985
Self
Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes
Movie • 1979
Self
Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around
Movie • 1978
Self
Uncle Meat
Movie • 1987
Self / The Imaginary Director
Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives
Movie • 2008
Self
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
Movie • 2009
Himself
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
Movie • 2008
Self
The Big T.N.T. Show
Movie • 1965
Self (uncredited)
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
The Art of Dissent
Movie • 2021
Self - Subject (archive footage)
The Velvet Underground
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
Movie • 1994
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
Movie • 1982
Self
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
Movie • 1988
Self
Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme
Movie • 2005
Himself
Frank Zappa - John, Dan And Me
Movie • 2004
Himself
Rock this Town
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
Movie • 2013
Himself
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
Movie • 2021
Self
Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona
Movie • 1988
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
Movie • 1991
Self
All My Loving
Movie • 1968
Self
Cocaine Blues
Movie • 1983
Himself
Porridge and kerosene
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
The Male Swagger
Movie
Guitarist (archive footage)
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
Movie • 1993
Himself
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
Movie • 2016
Self
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Your vote
Movie • 1991
Self
From Straight to Bizarre
Movie • 2012
Self
The Wrecking Crew
Movie • 2008
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
Movie • 2015
Himself
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
Movie • 2024
Frank Zappa
Movie • 1971
Self
Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music
Movie • 2007
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
Movie • 1984
Attila
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
Movie • 1997
Himself (archive footage)
You Are What You Eat
Movie • 1968
Marian Briozzo
Movie • 2018
Himself (archive footage)
Mondo Hollywood
Movie • 1967
Služební cesta podporučíka Svěráka
Movie • 1989
Self (archive footage)
The Yellow Shark
Movie • 1992
Self
Decade
Movie • 1989
Self
Derailroaded
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List
Movie • 2010
Himself
Zappa
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa - Over-Nite Sensation
Movie • 1973
Cover Your Ears
Movie • 2023
Self - Musician (archive footage)
Pražákům, těm je hej
Movie • 1991
Frank Zappa
Pink Floyd: Amougies Pop Festival
Movie • 1970
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
Movie • 1971
Frank Zappa: Opopoppa Stockholm, Sweden
Movie • 1973
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
Movie • 2007
Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep
Movie • 2025
Self (guitar, vocals)
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Movie • 2025
Self (archive footage)
Nova '78
Movie • 2025
Self (archive footage)
Miami Vice
TV • 1984
Mario Fuente
The Monkees
TV • 1966
Self (uncredited)
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Musical Guest
Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop
TV • 2005
Self (archive footage)
Laurel Canyon
TV • 2020
Self (archive footage)
The Ren & Stimpy Show
TV • 1991
The Pope (voice)
Good Evening — I'm Jonathan King
TV • 1967
Himself
Late Night Line-Up
TV
Himself
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self
Beat-Club
TV • 1965
Self
Faerie Tale Theatre
TV • 1982
Attilla
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host & Musical Guest
Classic Albums
TV • 1997
Self (archive footage)
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
TV • 1967
Self