Chicano Actors
Actors who are Mexican American
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Born February 24, 1947, in East Los Angeles, at The First Japanese Hospital to Pedro Olmos and Eleanor Huizar. Raised on Cheesebrough's Lane, he attended Greenwood Elementary and Montebello Junior High. He then graduated from Montebello High School in 1964. After which he received an Associative Arts Degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice at East Los Angeles College in 1966. Olmos since then has gone on to receive many accolades from the City of Montebello, including the Alumni of The Year from Montebello High School in 2014, and Man of the Year Award from The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in 2015.
He has achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer and humanitarian. The Tony, Emmy and Academy Award® Nominated actor, is probably best known to young audiences for his work on the SYFY television series "Battlestar Galatica" as Admiral William Adama. Although the series kept the actor busy during its run from 2003 through 2009, it didn't stop him from directing the HBO movie "Walkout" in 2007, for which he earned a DGA Nomination in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television category.
Olmos' career in entertainment spans over 30 years. In that time he created a signature style and aesthetic that he applies to every artist endeavor, often grounding his characters in reality and gravitas. His dedication to his craft has brought him attention across the industry, and with audiences worldwide.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cheech Marin was born on 13 July 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Born in East L.A. (1987), Tin Cup (1996) and Up in Smoke (1978). He has been married to Natasha Rubin since 8 August 2009. He was previously married to Rikki Marin and Patti Heid.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
George Lopez was born on April 23, 1961, in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California, the son of Frieda and Anatasio Lopez, a migrant worker. He is of Mestizo Mexican descent. He was deserted by his father when he was two months old and by his mother when he was 10 years old, but was raised by his maternal grandmother, Benita Gutierrez, a factory worker, and step-grandfather, Refugio Gutierrez, a construction worker. Lopez attended San Fernando High School, graduating in 1979. He is known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including Mexican American culture. Lopez has received several honors for his work and contributions to the Latino community, including the 2003 Imagen Vision Award, the 2003 Latino Spirit Award for Excellence in Television and the National Hispanic Media Coalition Impact Award. He was also named one of "The Top 25 Hispanics in America" by Time magazine in 2005. In 1993, Lopez married Ann Serrano. The couple has a daughter, Mayan, born in 1996. On September 27, 2010, Lopez announced that he and his wife had decided to end their marriage. Serrano filed for divorce on November 23, 2010, citing "irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized on July 1, 2011.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Friendly as all get-out, Latino stand-up comic Paul Rodriguez was born in Mexico but raised in East Los Angeles. After finishing his military service, he went to college on the GI bill with the idea of becoming an attorney, but developed an interest in comedy while taking elective courses.
Paul honed his stand-up act at L.A.'s famous The Comedy Store while working as a doorman there, and got his break as an opening act for others at various concerts and universities and as a warm-up comic on Norman Lear's short-lived sitcom Gloria (1982) starring Sally Struthers.
Lear was so impressed that he wrote and developed a sitcom specifically for Paul entitled a.k.a. Pablo (1984), which caught the public's eye only briefly. Other comedy series followed, however, including Trial and Error (1988) and Grand Slam (1990), and a few movies also came his way with D.C. Cab (1983) and Born in East L.A. (1987). Sticking to his Latino roots as the basis for his comedy, he has made an appealing crossover hit.
The comedian broke through the talk show venue with "El Show de Paul Rodriguez", which had a four-year run, and branched out into directing with the film A Million to Juan (1994), which he also co-wrote and starred in. More recently, he appeared with Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) and had an atypical role in director Clint Eastwood's Blood Work (2002) as an arrogant, smarmy police detective. More recently, he has been visible (good or bad) in A Cinderella Story (2004), The World's Fastest Indian (2005) and Cloud 9 (2006).
He also executive-produced and starred in the comedy concert film The Original Latin Kings of Comedy (2002). He has been seen everywhere on cable comedy showcases, including Paul Rodriguez: Behind Bars (1991), Crossing White Lines (1999), Paul Rodriguez Live!: I Need the Couch (1987), Paul Rodriguez: Live in San Quentin (1995), Paul Rodriguez & Friends: Comedy Rehab (2009) and Paul Rodriguez: The Here & Wow (2018)., all of which solidified his reputation as one of the country's best known Hispanic comics in the U.S.
Other millennium film credits include a wide variety of roles, including those in Tortilla Soup (2001), Ali (2001), Time Changer (2002), Baadasssss! (2003), Back by Midnight (2004), Lonely Street (2008), I'm Not Like That No More (2010), Mission Air (2014), Pray for Rain (2017), Cholo Zombies (2024). He also provided voices for the animated features Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), Porndogs: The Adventures of Sadie (2009) and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010). On TV, he was a regular on the Spanish-speaking comedy Componiendo a Paco (2012) and played the title role in the English-speaking sitcom Fixing Paco (2012).
Paul has been recognized for his tireless charity work, which includes strong, avid support for the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Farm Aid, Leukemia Telethon, Project Literacy, and Housing Now, among many others.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Danny Trejo was born Dan Trejo in Echo Park, Los Angeles, to Alice (Rivera) and Dan Trejo, a construction worker. A child drug addict and criminal, Trejo was in and out of jail for 11 years. While serving time in San Quentin, he won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles. Imprisoned for armed robbery and drug offenses, he successfully completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that changed his life. While speaking at a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in 1985, Trejo met a young man who later called him for support. Trejo went to meet him at what turned out to be the set of Runaway Train (1985). Trejo was immediately offered a role as a convict extra, probably because of his tough tattooed appearance. Also on the set was a screenwriter who did time with Trejo in San Quentin. Remembering Trejo's boxing skills, the screenwriter offered him $320 per day to train the actors for a boxing match. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy saw Trejo training Eric Roberts and immediately offered him a featured role as Roberts' opponent in the film. Trejo has subsequently appeared in many other films, usually as a tough criminal or villain.
Trejo is of Mexican descent.