Frank Zappa
Actor
Born December 21, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
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.
Filmography
Nova '78
Self (archive footage)
Marc-André Hamelin @ Ruhr Piano Festival 2025
Frank Zappa: Cheaper Than Cheep
Self (guitar, vocals)
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention: Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968
The Residents - A Documentary
Cover Your Ears
Self - Musician (archive footage)
Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary
Self (archive footage)
Rock this Town
Self (archive footage)
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
Self (archive footage)
The Velvet Underground
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!
Self
The Art of Dissent
Self - Subject (archive footage)
Larry Flynt for President
Self (archive footage)
Zappa
Self (archive footage)
Laurel Canyon
Self (archive footage)
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Self (archive footage)
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
Self (archive footage)
Echo in the Canyon
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Marian Briozzo
Himself (archive footage)
Take Your Pills
Self (archive footage)
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68
Self
Frank Zappa & The Mothers: Roxy: The Movie
Himself
Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George
Self (archive footage)
Led Zeppelin Played Here
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa – Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily
Himself (archive Footage)
Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II
Self (archive footage)
Cheepnis
Himself
Super Duper Alice Cooper
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme
Himself
From Straight to Bizarre
Self
Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List
Himself
Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's
Himself
Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980
Self
Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops
Self
Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives
Self
The Wrecking Crew
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: Music In Review
Self (archive footage)
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music
Frank Zappa: Roxy, 1973
Fuck
Self (archive footage)
Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop
Self (archive footage)
Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme
Himself
Derailroaded
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s
Self (archive footage)
Band from Utopia: A Tribute to the Music of Frank Zappa
Happy Birthday to John
The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart
Himself (archive footage)
Classic Albums
Self (archive footage)
Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees
Mike Nesmith (archive footage)
Duckman
The Revenge of the Dead Indians
Himself
Beasts
The Yellow Shark
Self
The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Pope (voice)
Pražákům, těm je hej
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko
Self
Decade
Self
Funny
Self
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
Self
Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona
Video from Hell
Self
The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Self
Uncle Meat
Self / The Imaginary Director
Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars
Self
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?
Self
The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers
Attila
Miami Vice
Mario Fuente
Cocaine Blues
Himself
Faerie Tale Theatre
Attilla
Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!
Self
Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes
Self
Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around
Self
Saturday Night Live
Self - Musical Guest
Frank Zappa: Opopoppa Stockholm, Sweden
Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
Self
Deep Purple: Made In Japan
Self (archive footage)
The Making of 200 Motels
Self
The Manipulator
200 Motels
Member of Mothers of Invention (uncredited)
Frank Zappa, John Lennon & Yoko Ono: At Fillmore East
Frank Zappa
Self
Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)
Self
Pink Floyd: Amougies Pop Festival
Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Self
Head
The Critic
All My Loving
Self
You Are What You Eat
Omnibus
Self
Mondo Hollywood
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Self
Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution
Self
Sex in Today's World
Self
The Monkees
Self (uncredited)
The Big T.N.T. Show
Self (uncredited)
Run Home Slow
Beat-Club
Self
Late Night Line-Up
Himself
The World's Greatest Sinner