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About Danny Trejo
From his Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Trejo
On 24 January 2023, Danny's ancestry was featured on PBS, on the popular genealogy program Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Dan "Danny" Trejo (Spanish pronunciation: [%CB%88trexo]; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in "tough guy" roles as a villain or an anti-hero. Some notable films include Heat, Con Air, Machete and Desperado.
Early life
Dan Trejo was born in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[1][2] He is the son of Alice Rivera and Dan Trejo, a construction worker.[3][4] He is of Mexican descent.[5] He is a second cousin of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, though the two were unaware that they were related until the filming of Desperado.[6][7]
Throughout the 1960's, Trejo was in and out of jail and prison in California. There are conflicting accounts of his prison chronology. By one account, his final stint in custody ended in 1972;[2] by another account, he did time in a juvenile offenders' camp and six California prisons between 1959 and 1969.[8][9] He recalled that his last prison term was five years. While serving in San Quentin Prison, he became a champion boxer in lightweight and welterweight divisions within that prison.[2]
During this time, Trejo became a member of a twelve-step program, which he credits with his success in overcoming drug addiction. In 2011, he recalled that he had been sober for 42 years.[8] Upon his final release he enrolled in Pitzer College located in Claremont, California but subsequently left after one semester of attendance.
Career
While speaking at a recovery meeting in Los Angeles, Trejo met a young man in the movie business. His newfound friend invited him to the set of Runaway Train where Trejo was offered a job as an extra in the film's prison scenes. Edward Bunker, himself a former convict and well-respected crime author who was writing the screenplay for the film, recognized Trejo, with whom he had done time at San Quentin.[2][10] Bunker, remembering Trejo's boxing skills, offered him $320 per day to train Eric Roberts, one of the movie's stars, for a boxing scene. Director Andrei Konchalovsky liked Trejo's work and decided to offer him a prominent role in the film. It has been widely misreported that Trejo was actually serving time in the prison during filming, when in fact he had been released over a decade earlier.
Since then, Trejo has become a prolific actor in both films and television, acting alongside some of Hollywood's most famous actors, including Jean-Claude Van Damme, Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Nicolas Cage, Charles Bronson, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Val Kilmer, and Antonio Banderas. Trejo has often appeared in five or more movies per year in various genres. Major releases in which he has acted include Machete, Blood In Blood Out, Animal Factory, Bubble Boy, Anaconda, Marked for Death, xXx, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, Con Air, Six Days Seven Nights, Spy Kids, The Replacement Killers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Predators, Urban Justice, The Devil's Rejects, Valley of Angels, Delta Farce, Grindhouse, Rob Zombie's Halloween and Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror.
Trejo is known for his very distinctive appearance. In addition to his heavily lined face (usually sporting a long mustache), he has displayed the large tattoo on his chest for many roles (the tattoo depicts a woman wearing a sombrero). He often plays thugs or lowlife characters, although he has also played sympathetic characters in films such as Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids trilogy, Bubble Boy and a guest appearance on the USA Network series Monk with art imitating life as a convict roommate to Tony Shalhoub's undercover detective. He also appeared in an episode of Desperate Housewives in Season 2, sent by Carlos to help Gabrielle deal with her grief of losing her unborn baby (another good-guy character).
On King of the Hill he voiced the character Enrique, and Octavio's character on the show is based on his appearance. His role on King of the Hill was referenced in the HBO series Unscripted in which he appears in a quick cameo.
He also is featured in an episode of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and an episode of Do IT LIVE alongside actors Anna Bennett and Claudia Pickering, shot in Downtown Los Angeles, by the name of Sebring feat. Danny Trejo. Trejo also made guest appearances in the award-winning series Breaking Bad in 2009 and 2010.
The award-winning independent film, CHAMPION was released in 2005, documenting Trejo's life. It features Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Steve Buscemi and Robert Rodriguez. Trejo appears as a playable character in Def Jam: Fight for NY, a fighting game to which the actor lent his voice and likeness. He had previously lent his voice to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories for the character Umberto Robina, who also resembles Trejo. Trejo voiced the character of Rico in Rob Zombie's animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto as well as starring alongside Steven Seagal in Urban Justice. He is now portraying the Mexican bartender in the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. He also voices Raul Tejada, a Ghoul in Fallout: New Vegas.
Regarding his continued growth as a professional actor, Trejo has stated that he still cannot believe how fortunate he has been. "I'm so blessed. I'm still scared that somebody's going to wake me up and say, 'Hey, we're still in prison. Let's go to chow'".[11]
Many of Trejo's characters in Robert Rodriguez movies have been named after knives or sharp instruments: Machete in Spy Kids, Razor Charlie in the From Dusk till Dawn series, Navajas (Spanish for blades) in Desperado, and Cuchillo (Spanish for knife) in Predators.[12] He also plays Machete in a trailer made for Rodriguez's film collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, Grindhouse. In 2010, he starred in a full theatrical version of Machete, based on the character.
He has also made cameo appearances in music videos such as in rapper Tech N9ne's video for the single Like Yeah from his 2008 release Killer; in Rehab's 2007 song Bartender; in Jay Chou's short movie-music video Double Blade from his 2003 album Ye Hui Mei; in southern metalcore band Maylene and the Sons of Disaster's video for the single Open Your Eyes from their 2011 release IV; in the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up from their album A Little Bit Longer; in Sepultura video Attitude in 1996; and in Yelawolf's video "Whistle Dixie" in 2012. He has also appeared in famous adult entertainer Lupe Fuentes new music video "We are the Party" with her band The Ex-Girlfriends.[13]
He also appeared in the PlayStation Move game The Fight: Lights Out as an instructor for the player's character, and as himself in the second map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops; Escalation map pack, on the zombie map Call of the Dead.
In 2012, Trejo starred alongside Ron Perlman and Charles S. Dutton in Craig Moss’s action film Bad Ass. He plays the main character of Frank Vega, a Vietnam veteran based upon 67-year-old “Epic Beard Man” Thomas Bruso. That same year he again appeared with Perlman in a supportng role in season 5 of the FX network drama Sons of Anarchy.
In 2013, Trejo shared his tumultuous journey from convict to movie star with KTTV in Los Angeles in a segment that was filmed in his own home.[14]
Personal life
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. (August 2012)
Trejo is married to Debbie Shreve. He has four children:
- 1. Danny Boy (b. 1981),
- 2. Gilbert (b. 1988),
- 3. Danielle (b. 1990),
- 4. Jose (b. 1991)
who are all from previous relationships.
He also has a daughter Esmeralda M. Trejo who is married and has three children in Austin, Texas.
Cultural references
Plastilina Mosh, a Mexican alternative rock band, paid tribute to Trejo with their song "Danny Trejo", featured in their album All U Need Is Mosh. Trejo is also featured in the 2004 hip-hop fighting game Def Jam: Fight for NY as a soldier to Crow's side. Crow is voiced by and his looks are captured by Snoop Dogg. Danny Trejo can also be seen in the intro of Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd ("Play for Real", B-Real & DJ Lethal). He also is featured in the downloadable content pack called Escalation Map Pack in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops on the map "Call of the Dead" as himself. In the comic series DMZ a character named Danny with the same appearance as Danny Trejo appears, he also makes indications that he was formerly a criminal as well.
References
- 1. ^ Beale, Lewis (May 9, 2007). "He ain't that bad". Daily News (New York).
- 2. ^ Bowles, Scott (September 3, 2010). "'Machete' star Danny Trejo is an illustrated man, in many ways". USA Today. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- 3. ^ Danny Trejo Biography (1944–)
- 4. ^ Danny Trejo Biography – Yahoo! Movies
- 5. ^ Amy Nicholson. "Danny Trejo Talks 'Predators,' 'Machete' and The Jonas Brothers".
- 6. ^ Strauss, Bob (September 11, 2003). "ROBERT RODRIGUEZ WEARS A HOST OF HATS, STAYS AWAY FROM TINSELTOWN AND EMBRACES DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GRITTY END TO
MARIACHI' TRILOGY". Daily News (Los Angeles, CA). Retrieved August 30, 2010. - 7. ^ Barlow, Helen (November 11, 2010). "Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo cutting a short story long". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
- 8. ^ Wright, Paul (August 2011). "Prison Legal News Interviews Former Prisoner and Famous Actor Danny Trejo". Prison Legal News.
- 9. ^ "article listing for Danny Trejo". Prison Legal News.
- 10. ^ Marks, Lisa (6 December 2012). "Danny Trejo: 'I went to the hole looking at three gas-chamber offences'". The Guardian.
- 11. ^ "Danny Trejo: The illustrated man".
- 12. ^ "Meet Danny Trejo as the Badass Cuchillo in New 'Predators' Character Profile".
- 13. ^ "About The Ex-Girlfriends". The Ex-Girlfriends. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- 14. ^ "Casa de Machete". KTTV. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- 15. ^ [1] https://www.facebook.com/mangobajitopelicula
- 16. ^ Machete Kills at the Internet Movie Database
External links
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Danny Trejo's Timeline
| 1944 |
May 16, 1944
|
Echo Park, Los Angeles County, California, United States
|