Frank Zappa
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.
111 acting credits · 13 directing credits
Acting · 111
Saturday Night Live
1975
Miami Vice
1984
Omnibus
1967
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
The Ren & Stimpy Show
1991
Classic Albums
1997
The Monkees
1966
Beat-Club
1965
Laurel Canyon
2020
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
2025
Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop
2005
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
2008
Fuck
2006
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
1984
Head
1968
The Wrecking Crew
2008
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
2016
Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth
1991
Take Your Pills
2018
Zappa
2020
Super Duper Alice Cooper
2014
200 Motels
1971
Mondo Hollywood
1967
The Velvet Underground
2021
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
2007
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
2019
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
1972
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
1967
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
1988
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
2021
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
2019
The Making of 200 Motels
1971
A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa
1993
All My Loving
1968
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s
2002
Derailroaded
2005
Video from Hell
1987
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
1993
Echo in the Canyon
2019
Led Zeppelin Played Here
2014
The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years
1982
Decade
1989
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
2022
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
2014
Funny
1988
Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology
2010
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
2015
An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa
1994
Deep Purple: Made In Japan
1972
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
2021
Uncle Meat
1987
Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die
2000
The Big T.N.T. Show
1965
Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape
2016
Frank Zappa
1971
Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter
2019
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
1997
Pražákům, těm je hej
1991
Good Evening — I'm Jonathan King
1967
Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II
2014
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
2016
Larry Flynt for President
2021
You Are What You Eat
1968
Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne
2016
Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona
1988
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
1982
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
1991
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
2009
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
1987
Rock this Town
2022
Marian Briozzo
2018
Nova '78
2025
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
1997
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
2024
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
2015
Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops
2008
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
1985
Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep
2025
From Straight to Bizarre
2012
Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives
2008
Cover Your Ears
2023
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
2013
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
1971
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
1970
Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme
2005
Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List
2010
Frank Zappa: Phase II - The Big Note
2002
Cocaine Blues
1983
Late Night Line-Up
1964
Zapped: Frank Zappa par Frank Zappa
2016
The Yellow Shark
1992
Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music
2007
Frank Zappa: Music In Review
2008
Služební cesta podporučíka Svěráka
1989
Pink Floyd: Amougies Pop Festival
1970
Porridge and kerosene
1997
Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere
1980
The Art of Dissent
2021
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
1967
Cheepnis
2014
Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes
1979
Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around
1978
Your vote
1991
Frank Zappa: Opopoppa Stockholm, Sweden
1973
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
2007
EAV Rarities
2006
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
1985
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
1969
Sex in Today's World
1967
Frank Zappa - John, Dan And Me
2004
The Male Swagger
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Directing · 13
200 Motels
1971
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
1988
Video from Hell
1987
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
2015
Uncle Meat
1987
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
1982
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
1987
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
1985
Cheepnis
2014
Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes
1979
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
2007
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
1985
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
1969