Danny Trejo
Trejo at the premiere of Grindhouse, Austin, Texas.
Born	May 16, 1944 (1944-05-16) (age 63) Los Angeles, United States

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

Biography

Early life

Trejo (pronounced Treh-ho), a Mexican American,[1] was born Dan Trejo, Jr.[2] in Los Angeles to 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, whom he had done time with at San Quentin. Remembering Trejo's boxing skills, he offered Trejo $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.

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 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, 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 and Grindhouse.

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 displayed range as a good guy with 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 of 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 Once Upon a Time in the Hood.

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.

Filmography

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References

External links

• Danny Trejo at the Internet Movie Database
• Danny Trejo: The illustrated man
• Official site for Champion a documentary about Trejo
• Movie Death Scenes