Danny Trejo

All you want to know about Danny Trejo

Danny Trejo

Trejo at the premiere of Grindhouse, Austin, Texas, 2007
Born May 16, 1944 (1944-05-16) (age 64)
Flag of the United States Los Angeles, United States

Danny Trejo (born May 16, 1944) is an American actor who has appeared in many Hollywood movies.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Trejo (pronounced Treh-ho), a Mexican American,[1] was born Dan Trejo, Jr.[2] in Los Angeles, the son of Alice Rivera and Dan Trejo, a construction worker. He is a cousin of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez[3][4] and a native of the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. As a youth, he roamed the streets around his home area, committing various crimes and became addicted to drugs. He was in and out of jail many times as a teenager.

While on the streets, Trejo developed talent as a boxer and considered taking up boxing as a profession. That ambition was dashed by a lengthy prison sentence. While serving time in San Quentin State Prison, he became the California state prison champion in both the lightweight and welterweight divisions. During this time, Trejo became a member of a twelve-step program, which he credits with his success in overcoming drug addiction.

Career

While speaking at a recovery meeting in 1985, 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. 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. Remembering Trejo's boxing skills, he offered Trejo $350 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.

Since then, Trejo has become a very busy actor in both films and television, acting alongside some of Hollywood's most famous actors, including Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Charles Bronson, George Clooney, Edward Furlong, 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 Blood in Blood Out, Animal Factory, Anaconda, 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, MFE Souls Day, The Devil's Rejects, Valley of Angels, Delta Farce, Grindhouse, and Rob Zombie's Halloween,andSnoop Doggs Hood Of Horror.

Trejo at Muscle Beach.
Trejo at Muscle Beach.

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 good guys in films such as Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids trilogy, Bubble Boy and an amusing 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). He also plays the characters Enrique and Octavio on King of the Hill. His role on King of the Hill was referenced in the HBO series Unscripted in which he appears in a quick cameo.

The independent film Champion was released in 2005, documenting Trejo's life and featuring appearances by friends and associates from the film industry. 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. He also appeared in, Jack's Law, written by Jeff Hawker and directed by Gil Medina; Trejo played the main character, Jack Santos, whose life is torn apart by the murder of his wife and daughter. The undercover vice cop takes a turn to the dark side, but a planned sequel suggests he lives through it. In May 2007, Trejo appeared as Mexican gangster Carlos Santana in the comedy movie Delta Farce, where three army reservists end up battling Trejo's gang of bandits, after they end up in Mexico instead of Iraq where they are supposed to be deployed. In regards to his continued growth as a professional actor, he still can't believe how fortunate he's 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'".[5] Trejo will next voice the character of Rico in Rob Zombie's upcoming animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto as well as star alongside Steven Seagal in Urban Justice.

Many of Trejo's characters in Robert Rodriguez movies have been named after knives or sharp instruments: Machete in Spy Kids, Razor Charlie and Razor Eddie in the From Dusk Till Dawn movies, and Navajas (Spanish for knives) in Desperado. He also plays another character called Machete in a trailer made for Rodriguez's film collaboration with Quentin Tarantino, Grindhouse. He is set to star in a full theatrical version of the film of the same name, based on the character.

Personal life

Trejo is married to Debbie Trejo. He has three children: Danny Boy (b. 1981, from a previous marriage), Gilbert (b. 1988), and Danielle (b. 1990).

Trejo has said that he is amazed when he walks the streets where he used to commit crimes and children ask him for autographs. He also pointed out that he often chooses to play bad guys to teach younger audiences that bad guys often die or go to prison, and that one should try to live a decent life.

Trejo has played by the name Machete four times in theaters. Three times in the Spy Kids franchise and In the fake trailer of Planet Terror. As a character actor whose name is still not widely known by many movie-goers, he is popularly known as "The Knife Guy" by many, due to the fact that he often plays characters who are skilled with knives.

He is now portraying the Mexican bartender in the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless

Filmography

Year Title Role
1985 Runaway Train Boxer
1987 The Hidden Prisoner
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown Art Sanella
1988 Bulletproof Sharkey
1989 Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects Prison Inmate
Lock Up Chink's Gang Member
1991 Wedlock Tough Prisoner #1
1993 Blood in Blood Out Geronimo
1995 Desperado Navajas
Heat Trejo
1996 From Dusk till Dawn Razor Charlie
1997 Anaconda Poacher
Con Air Johnny 23
1998 The Replacement Killers Collins
Six Days Seven Nights Pierce
1999 From Dusk till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money Razor Eddie
2000 Reindeer Games Jumpy
From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter Razor Charlie
Animal Factory Vito
2001 Spy Kids Machete
Bubble Boy Slim
2002 xXx El Jefe
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams Machete Cortez
13 Moons Hoodlum #2
The Salton Sea Little Bill
The Hire: Beat the Devil Bob
Do It for Uncle Manny Pedro
Nightstalker Officer Frank Luis
2003 Once Upon a Time in Mexico Cucuy
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Machete
2004 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Bartender
Lost Edward James Archer
2005 The Devil's Rejects Rondo
The Crow: Wicked Prayer Harold
All Souls Day Vargas Diaz
Venice Underground Papi
Dreaming on Christmas Train Driver
Tennis, Anyone...? Hector
The Curse of El Charro The Voice of El Charro
Nice Guys Shady
Chasing Ghosts Carlos Santiago
2006 Sherrybaby Dean Walker
Furnace Fury
TV: The Movie Unknown
Danny Roane: First Time Director Hector
Hood of Horror Derelict
Seven Mummies Apache
Taphephobia Creek
The Devil Inside Mondo
Propensity Roy
Living the Dream Chuck
Jack's Law Jack Santos
2007 Grindhouse Machete
Delta Farce Carlos Santana
Halloween Ismael Cruz
Smiley Face Albert
Urban Justice El Chivo
Terra voice only
North by El Norte Uncle John
Juan Frances: Live E.J.
The Blue Rose Junk
On Bloody Sunday The Ref
2008 The Haunted World of El Superbeasto Rico (voice)
Fanboys The Chief
Valley of Angels Hector
Richard III Major
La Linea Mario
Chinaman's Chance Manolo
The Art of Travel Limo Driver
Ranchero Capone
Jake's Corner Clint
The Grind Nicholi Guzman
Toxic Antoine
Through the Valley Don Reyes
Eyeborgs G-Man
Boston Girls Uncle Reggie
The No Sit List Clyde aka The Guard
Necessary Evil Barro
2009 Dark Games Archie
Alone in the Dark II Perry
Sin City 2 TBC[6]
Machete Machete

ITN Clothing

In addition to his acting career, Danny Trejo is also the founder of ITN Clothing, which offers hip-hop style T-shirts and accessories.

References

  1. ^ Former 'predator' Danny Trejo is a kids' favorite - Latino - NY Daily News
  2. ^ His birthname is simply "Dan", according to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
  3. ^ Danny Trejo Biography (1944-)
  4. ^ Danny Trejo Biography - Yahoo! Movies
  5. ^ Danny Trejo: The illustrated man
  6. ^ http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070514_machete_movie_greenlit.html

Played in "Animal Factory" in 2000 as a prison inmate alongside Willem Dafoe.

External links

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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Trejo"

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