Edward James Olmos Biography

Fast Facts

• Started a band called Pacific Ocean in the mid-1960s, performing at a Sunset Strip nightclub by night and taking sociology classes at a community college during the day
• Began motivational speaking in 1972, discussing gang violence and its corrosive effects on the community
• First major stage role was El Pachuco in Zoot Suit, which earned him a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and a Tony nomination
• Starred in and composed the music for The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)---about a Latino ranch hand pursued by a Texas posse in 1901---and personally visited theaters throughout the Southwest to show the film
• Made his feature directorial debut with the 1992 crime drama American Me
• Has lent his voice to a number of animated projects, including 2000 feature The Road to El Dorado and TV series The Batman, as well as the live-action Disney hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008)