Edward James Olmos
Encyclopedia
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama
in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica
, Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice
, teacher Jaime Escalante
in Stand and Deliver
, patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film Selena
, Detective Gaff in Blade Runner
, and narrator El Pachuco in both the stage
and film
versions of Zoot Suit
. He is currently portraying Professor Gellar on the sixth season
of Showtime
's Dexter
.
, California
, where he was raised, the son of Eleanor (née
Huizar) and Pedro Olmos, who was a welder and mail carrier. His father was a Mexican
immigrant and his mother Mexican American
. He grew up wanting to be a professional baseball
player, and became the Golden State batting champion. In his teen years, he turned to rock and roll
, and became the lead singer for a band he named Pacific Ocean, so-called because it was to be "the biggest thing on the West Coast." He graduated from Montebello High School
in 1964. While at Montebello High School
, he lost a race for Student Body President to future California Democratic Party
Chair Art Torres. For several years, Pacific Ocean played various clubs in and around Los Angeles
, and released a record in 1968. At the same time, he attended classes at East Los Angeles College
, including courses in acting.
, which dramatized the World War II
-era rioting in California
brought about by the tensions between Mexican-Americans and local police. (See Zoot Suit Riots
.) The play moved to Broadway, and Olmos earned a Tony award
nomination. He subsequently took the role to the filmed version
in 1981, and appeared in many other films including Wolfen
, Blade Runner
and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
.
In 1980, Olmos was cast in the post-apocalyptic science fiction film (now a Japanese cult classic) Virus (復活の日 Fukkatsu no hi), directed by Kinji Fukasaku
and based on a novel written by Sakyo Komatsu. His role required him to play a piano while singing a Spanish ballad during the later part of the film. Although not a box office success, Virus was notable for being the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time.
From 1984 to 1989, Olmos starred in his biggest role up to that date as the taciturn police Lieutenant Martin Castillo in the television series Miami Vice
, opposite Don Johnson
and Philip Michael Thomas
. He was awarded a Golden Globe
and an Emmy
in 1985 for his work in the series. At this time, Olmos also starred in a short training video for the United States Postal Service
entitled "Was it Worth It?", a video about theft in the workplace. He was contacted about playing the captain of the on Star Trek: The Next Generation
when it was in pre-production in 1986, but he declined.
Returning to film, Olmos became the first American-born Latino to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
, in Stand and Deliver
, for his portrayal of real-life math teacher, Jaime Escalante
. He directed and starred in American Me
in 1992, and also starred in My Family/Mi Familia
, a multigenerational story of a Chicano
family. In 1997, he starred alongside Jennifer Lopez
in the film Selena
. Olmos played Dominican Republic
dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in the 2001 movie In the Time of the Butterflies
. He also had a recurring role as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roberto Mendoza in the NBC
drama The West Wing
. From 2002 to 2004, he starred as a recently-widowed father of a Latino L.A.
-family in the PBS
drama American Family: Journey of Dreams.
From 2003 to 2009, he starred as Commander (later Admiral) William Adama
in the Sci-Fi Channel
's reimagined Battlestar Galactica
miniseries
, and in the television series
that followed. He directed four episodes of the show, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down (1.9), Taking a Break from All Your Worries
(3.13), Escape Velocity
(4.4) and Islanded in a Stream of Stars
(4.18). He also directed a television movie based upon the show, The Plan
. Regarding his work on the show, he told CraveOnline
, "I'm very grateful for the work that I've been able to do in my life, but I can honestly tell you, this is the best usage of television I've ever been a part of to date."
In 2006, he co-produced, directed, and played the bit part of Julian Nava
in the HBO movie about the 1968 Chicano Blowouts, Walkout
. He also appeared in Snoop Dogg
's music video "Vato", featuring B-Real from Cypress Hill
. In the series finale of the ABC
sitcom George Lopez
, titled "George Decides to Sta-Local Where It's Familia"; he guest-starred as the plant's new multi-millionaire owner. More recently, he has been a spokesperson for Farmers Insurance Group, starring in their Spanish language commercials.
Edward Olmos has often been involved in social activism, especially that affecting the Latino community. During the 1992 Rodney King Riots
in Los Angeles, when many people left the city, Olmos went out with a broom and worked to get communities cleaned up and rebuilt. He also attended an Oprah episode relating to the L.A. riots as an audience member. In 1997, Olmos co-founded the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival with Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez and Kirk Whisler. That same year, he co-founded with Kirk Whisler the non-profit organization, Latino Literacy Now, that has produced Latino Book & Festivals around the USA, attended by over 700,000 people.
In 1998, he founded Latino Public Broadcasting
and currently serves as its Chairman. Latino Public Broadcasting funds public television programming that focuses on issues affecting Latinos and advocates for diverse perspectives in public television. That same year, he starred in The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
, a comedy that sought to break Latino stereotypes and transcend the normal stigmas of most Latino-oriented movies. In 1999, Olmos was one of the driving forces that created Americanos: Latino Life in the U.S.1, a book project featuring over 30 award winning photographers, later turned into a Smithsonian traveling exhibition, music CD and HBO special.
He also makes frequent appearances at juvenile halls and detention centers to speak to at-risk teenagers. He has also been an international ambassador for UNICEF
. In 2001, he was arrested and spent 20 days in jail for taking part in the Navy-Vieques protests against United States Navy
target practice bombings of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico
. On January 5, 2007, he appeared on Puerto Rican television to blame the Puerto Rican and United States governments for not cleaning Vieques after the U.S. Navy stopped using the island for bombing practice.
Edward James Olmos narrated for the 1999 film Zapatista, a documentary in support of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
, a revolutionary group that has abstained from using their weapons since 1994. He also gave $2,300 to New Mexico governor Bill Richardson for his presidential campaign (the maximum amount for the primaries).
Olmos joined the cast of the television series Dexter
for its 6th season, as a “brilliant, charismatic professor of religious studies.”
. They had two children, Bodie
and Mico, before divorcing in 1992. Olmos also has three adopted children: Michael D., Brandon and Tamiko. He married actress Lorraine Bracco
in 1994, but she filed for divorce in January 2002 after five years of separation. He is currently married to Puerto Rican
actress Lymari Nadal
.
In 1996, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from California State University, Fresno. In 2007, after a seven-year process, he obtained Mexican nationality.
Asteroid
5608 Olmos
is named in his honor.
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
, Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
, teacher Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante
Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez was a Bolivian educator well-known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California...
in Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film, based on the true story of high school mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante. Edward James Olmos portrayed Escalante in the film and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.-Plot:...
, patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film Selena
Selena (film)
Selena is a 1997 American biographical drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death at the age of twenty-three.The movie...
, Detective Gaff in Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
, and narrator El Pachuco in both the stage
Zoot Suit (play)
Zoot Suit is a play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music." Zoot Suit is a fictionalized version of the real-life Sleepy Lagoon murder trial – when a group of Chicano youths were charged with a murder that they did...
and film
Zoot Suit (film)
Zoot Suit is a 1981 filmed version of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos — both reprising their roles from the stage production — and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the...
versions of Zoot Suit
Zoot suit
A zoot suit is a suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing was popularized by African Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Italian Americans during the late 1930s and the 1940s...
. He is currently portraying Professor Gellar on the sixth season
Dexter (season 6)
- Plot :María LaGuerta is promoted to Captain due to blackmailing Deputy Chief Matthews , whose name was on a prostitute's ledger. Vince Masuka is teaching a group of forensic science students, eventually having a female student, Ryan Chambers , become his intern...
of Showtime
Showtime
Showtime is an American premium cable television service featuring programming that consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures, along with original series, made-for-cable movies, and occasional boxing and mixed martial arts matches...
's Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
.
Early life
Olmos was born Edward Olmos in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he was raised, the son of Eleanor (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Huizar) and Pedro Olmos, who was a welder and mail carrier. His father was a Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
immigrant and his mother Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
. He grew up wanting to be a professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, and became the Golden State batting champion. In his teen years, he turned to rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, and became the lead singer for a band he named Pacific Ocean, so-called because it was to be "the biggest thing on the West Coast." He graduated from Montebello High School
Montebello High School
Montebello High School is a secondary school of the Montebello Unified School District, located in Montebello, CA.Montebello High School has an enrollment of approximately 3400 students and a staff of 121 teachers...
in 1964. While at Montebello High School
Montebello High School
Montebello High School is a secondary school of the Montebello Unified School District, located in Montebello, CA.Montebello High School has an enrollment of approximately 3400 students and a staff of 121 teachers...
, he lost a race for Student Body President to future California Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Chair Art Torres. For several years, Pacific Ocean played various clubs in and around Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and released a record in 1968. At the same time, he attended classes at East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College
East Los Angeles College is a community college of the Los Angeles Community College District in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park. Fourteen communities comprise its primary service area...
, including courses in acting.
Career
In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Olmos branched out from music into acting, appearing in many small productions, until his big break portraying the narrator, called "El Pachuco," in the play Zoot SuitZoot Suit (play)
Zoot Suit is a play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music." Zoot Suit is a fictionalized version of the real-life Sleepy Lagoon murder trial – when a group of Chicano youths were charged with a murder that they did...
, which dramatized the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era rioting in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
brought about by the tensions between Mexican-Americans and local police. (See Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that erupted in Los Angeles, California between white sailors and Marines stationed throughout thehi c mlc city and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored...
.) The play moved to Broadway, and Olmos earned a Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination. He subsequently took the role to the filmed version
Zoot Suit (film)
Zoot Suit is a 1981 filmed version of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos — both reprising their roles from the stage production — and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the...
in 1981, and appeared in many other films including Wolfen
Wolfen (film)
Wolfen is the title of a 1981 horror film starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos based on Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen...
, Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
Gregorio Cortez
Gregorio Cortez Lira was a Mexican American outlaw in the American Old West who became a folk hero to Mexicans living in South Texas. He was known for his ability to evade authorities as well as his impassioned words in court.- Background :Cortez's parents were itinerant laborers who brought...
.
In 1980, Olmos was cast in the post-apocalyptic science fiction film (now a Japanese cult classic) Virus (復活の日 Fukkatsu no hi), directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Kinji Fukasaku
was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
and based on a novel written by Sakyo Komatsu. His role required him to play a piano while singing a Spanish ballad during the later part of the film. Although not a box office success, Virus was notable for being the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time.
From 1984 to 1989, Olmos starred in his biggest role up to that date as the taciturn police Lieutenant Martin Castillo in the television series Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
, opposite Don Johnson
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne "Don" Johnson is an American actor known for his work in television and film. He played the lead role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s TV cop series, Miami Vice, which led him to huge success. He also played the lead role in the 1990s cop series, Nash Bridges...
and Philip Michael Thomas
Philip Michael Thomas
Philip Michael Thomas is an American actor. Thomas's most famous role is that of detective Ricardo Tubbs on the hit 1980s TV series Miami Vice. His first notable roles were in Coonskin and opposite Irene Cara in the 1976 film Sparkle...
. He was awarded a Golden Globe
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
and an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 1985 for his work in the series. At this time, Olmos also starred in a short training video for the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
entitled "Was it Worth It?", a video about theft in the workplace. He was contacted about playing the captain of the on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
when it was in pre-production in 1986, but he declined.
Returning to film, Olmos became the first American-born Latino to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, in Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film, based on the true story of high school mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante. Edward James Olmos portrayed Escalante in the film and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.-Plot:...
, for his portrayal of real-life math teacher, Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante
Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez was a Bolivian educator well-known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California...
. He directed and starred in American Me
American Me
American Me is a 1992 biographical crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana...
in 1992, and also starred in My Family/Mi Familia
My Family (film)
My Family is an American drama film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Nava and Anna Thomas. The motion picture stars Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, and others. It also features Jennifer Lopez in her second film role....
, a multigenerational story of a Chicano
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
family. In 1997, he starred alongside Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
in the film Selena
Selena (film)
Selena is a 1997 American biographical drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death at the age of twenty-three.The movie...
. Olmos played Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo in the 2001 movie In the Time of the Butterflies
In the Time of the Butterflies (film)
In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name...
. He also had a recurring role as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roberto Mendoza in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
drama The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
. From 2002 to 2004, he starred as a recently-widowed father of a Latino L.A.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
-family in the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
drama American Family: Journey of Dreams.
From 2003 to 2009, he starred as Commander (later Admiral) William Adama
William Adama
William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series...
in the Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
's reimagined Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
miniseries
Battlestar Galactica (TV miniseries)
Battlestar Galactica is a three-hour miniseries written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. It was the first part of the Battlestar Galactica reimagining based on the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series, and served as a backdoor pilot for the 2004 television series...
, and in the television series
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
that followed. He directed four episodes of the show, Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down (1.9), Taking a Break from All Your Worries
Taking a Break from All Your Worries
"Taking a Break From All Your Worries" is the thirteenth episode of the third season from the science fiction television series, Battlestar Galactica. The title is a line from the Cheers theme song, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" "Taking a Break From All Your Worries" is the thirteenth episode...
(3.13), Escape Velocity
Escape Velocity (Battlestar Galactica)
"Escape Velocity" is the fourth episode in the fourth season of the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. It first aired on April 25, 2008. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,675.-Plot:...
(4.4) and Islanded in a Stream of Stars
Islanded in a Stream of Stars
"Islanded in a Stream of Stars" is the twentieth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. It aired on television in the United States and Canada on March 6, 2009. The survivor count shown in the title sequence is 39,521...
(4.18). He also directed a television movie based upon the show, The Plan
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan is a made for television movie set in the reimagined version of the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe. It consists of newly filmed material as well as a compilation of footage from the TV series and miniseries....
. Regarding his work on the show, he told CraveOnline
CraveOnline
CraveOnline is a male lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company AtomicOnline, the publishing division of Evolve Media Corp.- History :...
, "I'm very grateful for the work that I've been able to do in my life, but I can honestly tell you, this is the best usage of television I've ever been a part of to date."
In 2006, he co-produced, directed, and played the bit part of Julian Nava
Julian Nava
Julian Nava is an American educator and diplomat.Nava was born to Mexican immigrants in 1927 and is one of 8 children in Los Angeles, California. Nava grew up in the barrio of East L.A. In 1945, he volunteered for the Air Corps of the United States Navy...
in the HBO movie about the 1968 Chicano Blowouts, Walkout
Walkout (film)
Walkout is a 2006 HBO film based on a true story of the 1968 East L.A. walkouts. It premiered March 18, 2006 on HBO. Starring Alexa Vega, Efren Ramirez and Michael Peña, the film was directed by Edward James Olmos...
. He also appeared in Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
's music video "Vato", featuring B-Real from Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
. In the series finale of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom George Lopez
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
, titled "George Decides to Sta-Local Where It's Familia"; he guest-starred as the plant's new multi-millionaire owner. More recently, he has been a spokesperson for Farmers Insurance Group, starring in their Spanish language commercials.
Edward Olmos has often been involved in social activism, especially that affecting the Latino community. During the 1992 Rodney King Riots
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
in Los Angeles, when many people left the city, Olmos went out with a broom and worked to get communities cleaned up and rebuilt. He also attended an Oprah episode relating to the L.A. riots as an audience member. In 1997, Olmos co-founded the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival with Marlene Dermer, George Hernandez and Kirk Whisler. That same year, he co-founded with Kirk Whisler the non-profit organization, Latino Literacy Now, that has produced Latino Book & Festivals around the USA, attended by over 700,000 people.
In 1998, he founded Latino Public Broadcasting
Latino Public Broadcasting
Latino Public Broadcasting is a non-profit organization that is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with the purpose of addressing issues of cultural significance to the latino population in the United States...
and currently serves as its Chairman. Latino Public Broadcasting funds public television programming that focuses on issues affecting Latinos and advocates for diverse perspectives in public television. That same year, he starred in The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit is a 1998 film set in East Los Angeles directed by Stuart Gordon, written by Ray Bradbury and starring Edward James Olmos, Joe Mantegna, Esai Morales, Clifton Collins Jr. , Sid Caesar, Howard Morris and Gregory Sierra...
, a comedy that sought to break Latino stereotypes and transcend the normal stigmas of most Latino-oriented movies. In 1999, Olmos was one of the driving forces that created Americanos: Latino Life in the U.S.1, a book project featuring over 30 award winning photographers, later turned into a Smithsonian traveling exhibition, music CD and HBO special.
He also makes frequent appearances at juvenile halls and detention centers to speak to at-risk teenagers. He has also been an international ambassador for UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
. In 2001, he was arrested and spent 20 days in jail for taking part in the Navy-Vieques protests against United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
target practice bombings of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands...
. On January 5, 2007, he appeared on Puerto Rican television to blame the Puerto Rican and United States governments for not cleaning Vieques after the U.S. Navy stopped using the island for bombing practice.
Edward James Olmos narrated for the 1999 film Zapatista, a documentary in support of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
, a revolutionary group that has abstained from using their weapons since 1994. He also gave $2,300 to New Mexico governor Bill Richardson for his presidential campaign (the maximum amount for the primaries).
Olmos joined the cast of the television series Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
for its 6th season, as a “brilliant, charismatic professor of religious studies.”
Personal life
In 1971, Olmos married Katija Keel, the daughter of actor Howard KeelHoward Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
. They had two children, Bodie
Bodie Olmos
Bodie James Olmos is an American actor of TV and film. He is the son of Edward James Olmos and Kaija Keel, and grandson of Howard Keel. His older brother is actor Mico Olmos. His first on screen appearance was on The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez in 1982 when he was 7 years old...
and Mico, before divorcing in 1992. Olmos also has three adopted children: Michael D., Brandon and Tamiko. He married actress Lorraine Bracco
Lorraine Bracco
Lorraine Bracco is an American actress. She is best known for her TV roles as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on HBO series, The Sopranos, and Angela Rizzoli on the TNT series, Rizzoli & Isles...
in 1994, but she filed for divorce in January 2002 after five years of separation. He is currently married to Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
actress Lymari Nadal
Lymari Nadal
Lymari Nadal is a Puerto Rican actress, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on 11 February 1978. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.-Early years:...
.
In 1996, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from California State University, Fresno. In 2007, after a seven-year process, he obtained Mexican nationality.
Asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
5608 Olmos
5608 Olmos
5608 Olmos is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1,567.8586879 days . The asteroid was discovered on March 12, 1993, and named after actor Edward James Olmos.-References:...
is named in his honor.
Films
- Aloha Bobby and Rose (1975) - Chicano #1 (as Eddie Olmos)
- Alambrista! (1977) - Drunk Yelling at Workers (Credit reads "Edward Olmos")
- Evening in ByzantiumEvening in ByzantiumEvening in Byzantium is a 1978 television movie produced by Glen A. Larson Productions and Universal Television, and directed by Jerry London, about the Cannes Film Festival being overtaken by terrorists. It stars Glenn Ford, Vince Edwards, Shirley Jones, Eddie Albert and Erin Gray, with Edward...
(1978) - Angelo - Fukkatsu no hiFukkatsu no hi, literally Day of Resurrection is a 1980 post-apocalyptic science fiction movie directed by Kinji Fukasaku and based on a novel written by Sakyo Komatsu. The movie starred Masao Kusakari, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Chuck Connors, Olivia Hussey, Edward James Olmos, Ken Ogata, Glenn Ford and...
(1979) - Capt. Lopez - Three Hundred Miles for Stephanie (1981) - Art Vela
- WolfenWolfen (film)Wolfen is the title of a 1981 horror film starring Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Gregory Hines and Edward James Olmos based on Whitley Strieber's 1978 novel The Wolfen...
(1981) - Eddie Holt - Zoot SuitZoot Suit (film)Zoot Suit is a 1981 filmed version of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos — both reprising their roles from the stage production — and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the...
(1981) - El Pachuco - Blade RunnerBlade RunnerBlade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
(1982) - Gaff - The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983) - Gregorio Cortez
- Saving GraceSaving Grace (1985 film)Saving Grace is a 1985 film produced by Herbert F. Solow, directed by Robert M. Young and starring Tom Conti, Giancarlo Giannini and Edward James Olmos.It is based on a novel by Celia Gittelson with screenplay by Richard Kramer.-Plot:...
(1985) - Ciolino - Stand and DeliverStand and DeliverStand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film, based on the true story of high school mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante. Edward James Olmos portrayed Escalante in the film and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.-Plot:...
(1988) - Jaime EscalanteJaime EscalanteJaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez was a Bolivian educator well-known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California... - The Fortunate PilgrimThe Fortunate PilgrimThe Fortunate Pilgrim is a 1965 novel by Mario Puzo. It deals with the Angeluzzi-Corbos family, a family of immigrants living an adopted life in New York City. The head of the family is Lucia Santa, a wife, widow and mother of two families. It is her formidable will that steers them through the...
(1989) - Frank Corbo - Triumph of the SpiritTriumph of the SpiritTriumph of the Spirit is a 1989 American film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Willem Dafoe and Edward James Olmos. The majority of the film is set in the death camp at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and details how the Jewish boxer Salamo Arouch was forces to fight other internees to the...
(1989) - Gypsy - Talent for the GameTalent for the GameTalent for the Game was a 1991 film about a baseball scout, directed by Robert M. Young and starring Edward James Olmos and Lorraine Bracco in her first film after Goodfellas.It co-stars Terry Kinney, Jamey Sheridan and Jeff Corbett....
(1991) - Virgil Sweet - American MeAmerican MeAmerican Me is a 1992 biographical crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos, his first film as a director, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos also stars as the film's protagonist, Montoya Santana...
(1992) - Montoya Santana - Roosters (1993) - Gallo Morales
- Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994) - Jose Menendez
- A Million to JuanA Million to JuanA Million to Juan is a romantic comedy film starring comedian Paul Rodriguez. This was also his directorial debut. The story is a modern spin on Mark Twain's story "The Million-Pound Bank Note".-Plot:...
(1994) - Angel - The Burning Season (1994) - Wilson Pinheiro
- Mirage (1995) - Matteo Juarez
- 500 Nations500 Nations500 Nations is an eight part documentary on the Native Americans of North and Central America. It documents from pre-Columbian to the end of the 19th century. Much of the information comes from text, eyewitnesses, pictorials, and computer graphics....
- (voice) - My Family/Mi FamiliaMy Family (film)My Family is an American drama film directed by Gregory Nava and written by Nava and Anna Thomas. The motion picture stars Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, Esai Morales, and others. It also features Jennifer Lopez in her second film role....
(1995) - Paco - Dead Man's WalkDead Man's WalkDead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives...
(1996) - Capt. Salazar - The Limbic Region (1996) - Jon Lucca
- CaughtCaught (1996 film)Caught is a 1996 erotic thriller film about a drifter who disrupts the simple life of a fish market owner and his wife. The film was directed by Robert M. Young, and stars Edward James Olmos, Arie Verveen, María Conchita Alonso, and Bitty Schram....
(1996) - Joe - 12 Angry Men12 Angry Men (1997 film)12 Angry Men is a 1997 television film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the Reginald Rose teleplay of the same title.-Plot:After the final closing arguments have been presented to the judge, she gives her instructions to the jury. In the United States , the verdict in criminal cases must...
(1997) - Juror #11 - SelenaSelena (film)Selena is a 1997 American biographical drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death at the age of twenty-three.The movie...
(1997) - Abraham Quintanilla, Jr. - The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997) - Roberto Lozano
- Hollywood Confidential (1997) - Stan Navarro, Sr.
- The Wonderful Ice Cream SuitThe Wonderful Ice Cream SuitThe Wonderful Ice Cream Suit is a 1998 film set in East Los Angeles directed by Stuart Gordon, written by Ray Bradbury and starring Edward James Olmos, Joe Mantegna, Esai Morales, Clifton Collins Jr. , Sid Caesar, Howard Morris and Gregory Sierra...
(1998) - Vamanos - The Taking of Pelham One Two ThreeThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1998 film)The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1998 American television movie directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and starring Edward James Olmos. It is a television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Morton Freedgood , and is a remake of the original 1974 film adaptation...
(1998) - Det. Anthony Piscotti - Bonanno: A Godfather's Story (1999) - Salvatore MaranzanoSalvatore MaranzanoSalvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
- The Road to El DoradoThe Road to El DoradoThe Road to El Dorado is a 2000 American animated adventure comedy film by DreamWorks. The soundtrack features songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, the music team from Disney's The Lion King....
(2000) (voice) - Chief Tannabok - GossipGossip (2000 American film)Gossip is a 2000 teen drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim and featuring an ensemble cast including James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, and Kate Hudson.-Plot:...
(2000) - Detective Curtis - The Judge (2001) - Judge Armando
- In the Time of the ButterfliesIn the Time of the Butterflies (film)In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name...
(2001) Rafael Trujillo - Jack and Marilyn (2002) - Pasquel
- Cerca, La (2005) - Nino
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (2005) - Voice of Mito
- SplinterSplinter (2006 film)Splinter is a 2006 American police-action film set in Los Angeles directed by Michael D. Olmos and starring Tom Sizemore, Noel Gugliemi and Edward James Olmos....
(2006) - Capt. Garcia - WalkoutWalkout (film)Walkout is a 2006 HBO film based on a true story of the 1968 East L.A. walkouts. It premiered March 18, 2006 on HBO. Starring Alexa Vega, Efren Ramirez and Michael Peña, the film was directed by Edward James Olmos...
(2006) - Julian Nava - Beverly Hills ChihuahuaBeverly Hills ChihuahuaBeverly Hills Chihuahua is a 2008 family comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is directed by Raja Gosnell and released on October 3, 2008...
(2008) (voice) - Diablo - I'm Still HereI'm Still Here (film)I'm Still Here is a 2010 mockumentary film directed by Casey Affleck, and written by Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began...
(2010) (actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
) - himself - The Green HornetThe Green Hornet (2011 film)The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero action-comedy film based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media...
(2011) - Michael Axford - AmericaAmerica (2011 film)America is a 2011 Puerto Rican drama film directed by Sonia Fritz. The film was selected as the Puerto Rican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but was disqualified.-Cast:* Lymari Nadal as America* Yancey Arias as Correa...
(2011)
Television
| Year | Title | Role | | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | CHiPs CHiPs CHiPs is an American television drama series produced by MGM Studios that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to July 17, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol... |
Henry | Season 1 Final Episode "Flashback" |
| 1984–1989 | Miami Vice Miami Vice Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989... |
Lt. Lieutenant A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank... Martin Castillo |
|
| 1999–2000 | The West Wing | Associate Justice Roberto Mendoza | |
| 2002–2004 | American Family: Journey of Dreams American Family: Journey of Dreams American Family: Journey of Dreams is a PBS series created by Gregory Nava that follows the lives of a Latino family in Los Angeles.This was the first broadcast television drama series featuring a predominantly Latino cast... |
family patriarch Jess Gonzalez | |
| 2003–2009 | Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series) Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson... |
William Adama William Adama William "Bill" Adama is a fictional character portrayed by Edward James Olmos in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series... |
|
| 2007 | George Lopez George Lopez (TV series) "The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez... |
Mr. Vega | Season 6 Finale |
| 2010 | CSI: NY CSI: NY CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes... |
"Sangre Por Sangre" | Season 7 Episode 4 |
| 2011 | Dexter Dexter (TV series) Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer... |
Professor Gellar (Series regular) | Season 6 |