Frank ZappaFilmography

Born:: December 21, 1940 in Baltimore, MD
Occupation:: Actor, Director, Editor, Composer (Music Score), Producer, Screenwriter
Biography:: A musician since high school, Frank Zappa left college after six months for paying jobs, and by age 23, he'd accumulated enough capital to open his own small-scale recording studio. He gained national popularity in the mid-'60s as guitarist/composer of the Mothers of Invention. To many adults...Read More

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Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960s

Actors: Frank Zappa

2008
Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe/Over-Nite Sensation

Actors: Frank Zappa

2007
Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer

Actors: Wild Man Fischer

Synopsis: Larry "Wild Man" Fischer was a wildly eccentric singer who in 1968 was discovered on the streets of Hollywood by Frank Zappa, who was intrigued by Fischer's offer to write and perform original songs for passers-by for a mere ten cents each. After hearing a few dollars' worth, Zappa offered Fischer Read More

11/3/05
The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: This comedy presentation by Frank Zappa features a behind the scenes look at the making of this video. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1988
Frank Zappa Presents: The Amazing Mr. Bickford

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Director

Synopsis: A claymation video. Bruce Bickford animates a fantasy world of strange creatures to music by Frank Zappa and Pierry Boulez performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and the Ensemble InterContemporain. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1988
Video from Hell

Synopsis: The Frank Zappa movie sampler Video From Hell showcases the bizarre genius and talent of this musical legend. See selections from a number of Zappa videos and other unforgettable Zappa moments, including footage from his address to the Maryland State Legislature in which he discusses censorship Read More

1987
Uncle Meat: The Mothers of Invention Movie

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Twenty years in the making, this video takes the world of the bizarre to new levels. Part one features "the Mothers" live on-stage in a 1968 performance at London Festival Hall. Footage portrays the struggle that bandmembers faced when trying to break away from the group to establish their own Read More

1987
Frank Zappa: Video from Hell

Synopsis: A music performance video, with Zappa sending up MTV-type videos. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1985
Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: Legendary composer and musician Frank Zappa mounted one of his last tours with a full rock band in 1984 in support of his album {^Them or Us}, and this concert video captures him and his band -- including Ike Willis, Scott Thunes, Chad Wackerman, and Ray White -- playing a wild set of new and old Read More

1984
Cocaine Blues

Synopsis: This program takes a sobering look at the world of cocaine use. Sigmund Freud was among the first famous people to extol the virtues of cocaine, in sharpening the mind and creating a sense of euphoria. And he was among the many who learned, to his dismay, about the destructive side of the drug. In Read More

1983
Uncle Meat

Synopsis: A compilation of Frank Zappa footage from 1967 to 1982 is featured here. Includes music video clips and live concert footage. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1982
The Boy Who Left Home to Find out About the Shivers

Synopsis: Narrated by Vincent Price, this story is about a boy who goes to a Transylvanian Castle to learn about fear. This program is not intended for young children. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

1981
Baby Snakes

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Director, Editor, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Frank Zappa, Adrian Belew, Terry Bozzio

Synopsis: Composer, bandleader, satirist and all-around mad genius Frank Zappa offers an up-close look at "people who do stuff that is not normal" in this off-center concert documentary. Primarily filmed during a 1977 Halloween show by Zappa and his group (which at the time included Adrian Belew, Terry Read More

1979
Saturday Night Live: Frank Zappa

Actors: Frank Zappa

Synopsis: This 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Frank Zappa, who also serves as the musical guest. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide Read More

1978
The Mike Douglas Show: November 9, 1976

Synopsis: In the 1960s and '70s, Mike Douglas was the host of one of America's most popular TV talk shows. In his 22 years on the air, Douglas was famous for presenting a dizzying variety of entertainers and newsmakers, and this video features 75 minutes of great moments from the show's heyday. Guests Read More

1976
Saturday Night Live: Candice Bergen [3]

Actors: Candice Bergen, Frank Zappa

Synopsis: This 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Candice Bergen and features musical guest Frank Zappa. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide Read More

1976
200 Motels

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Director, Screenwriter

Actors: The Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel, Ringo Starr, Janet Ferguson, Lucy Offerall

Synopsis: Less a movie than a purposely crude series of musical vignettes and inside jokes for die-hard fans, Frank Zappa informs viewers in the opening scene that "Touring can make you crazy, ladies and gentlemen, and that is what 200 Motels is all about." The rest of the plot-less production is filled Read More

1971
The Monkees: Monkees Blow Their Minds

Actors: Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith

Synopsis: Suffering from writers' block, Peter visits a nightclub hypnotist, The Great Oracullo (Monte Landis). But instead of curing Peter, Oracullo drugs the poor Monkee and places him under his evil spell. The other Monkees try to rescue Peter by pretending to succumb to Oracullo's hypnotic powers -- but Read More

1968
Head

Actors: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Annette Funicello

Synopsis: The Monkees -- Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork -- didn't really enjoy being labelled the Prefab Four back when their TV series was all the rage in 1966. With the help and support of Bob Rafaelson (co-producer, co-writer and director) and Jack Nicholson (co-producer Read More

1968
Mondo Hollywood

Synopsis: Less a straight documentary than a freeform essay film, Robert Carl Cohen's Mondo Hollywood entertains its audience by profiling a series of "mod" L.A.-area individuals in the late '60s. The film flows freely and loosely from one subject into another and thus emerges as a series of vignettes on Read More

1967
Run Home Slow

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: In this strange western a woman enlists the aid of her two brothers and her sister-in-law and begins a series of bank robberies to get revenge upon the banker who refused her father a loan for the medical treatment he desperately needed to survive. Frank Zappa wrote the soundtrack for this Read More

1965
The World's Greatest Sinner

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Timothy Carey, Gil Baretto, Betty Rowland, James Farley, Gail Griffen

Synopsis: Character actor and cult hero Timothy Carey wrote, produced, and directed this one-of-a-kind parade of the unusual, in which Carey stars as Clarence Hilliard, a seemingly content insurance salesman who undergoes a remarkable transformation. Hilliard, bored with his job and certain fate has bigger Read More

1962