Luis Valdez
Born	June 26, 1940 (1940-06-26) (age 67), Delano, California, United States
Occupation	Film Director, Producer, Writer, and Teacher.
Website	El Teatro Campesino

Luis Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright, writer and film director. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Delano is a city located in Kern County, California. ... Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of War Brides, 1916 A director is a person who directs the making of a film. ... A film producer creates the conditions for making movies. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... For university teachers, see professor. ... is the 177th day of the year (178th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of War Brides, 1916 A director is a person who directs the making of a film. ...

He is regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States.^[1] For other uses, see Chicano (disambiguation). ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle &#8212...

Biography

Education

Valdez was born in Delano, California to migrant farm worker parents. Valdez graduated from James Lick High School in San Jose and went on attend San Jose State University (SJSU) on a scholarship for math and physics. He later switched his major and earned a degree in English in 1964. Delano is a city located in Kern County, California. ... Migrant farm worker, New York A migrant worker is someone who regularly works away from home, if they even have a home. ... James Lick High School is a high school of the East Side Union High School District located in Alum Rock, California, an unincorporated community near San Jose. ... For other uses, see San José. Nickname: Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... San Jose State University San José State University, commonly shortened to San Jose State and SJSU, is the oldest university in what became the California State University system. ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ...

According to Valdez when he was six years old, he watched a teacher use part of a paper bag to make papier-mâché masks for a theater production. This experience transformed him and would have a lasting effect. In college it helped lead him to the theater. Valdez's first full-length play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. debuted at SJSU in 1963.^[2] For university teachers, see professor. ... Papier-mâché around a form such as a balloon to create a pig. ... For other uses, see Play (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ...

Career background

After graduation, Valdez spent the next few months with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he was introduced to agitprop theatre. The San Francisco Mime Troupe is an award winning theatre of political satire, which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California. ... Agitprop poster by Vladimir Mayakovsky. ...

In 1965, Valdez returned to Delano, where he formed El Teatro Campesino, a farm workers' theater troupe. Valdez's teatro was influential, according to Gale Resources, "[T]hanks to Valdez and El Teatro Campesino. What began as a farm workers' theater in the migrant camps of Delano now exploded into a national Chicano theater movement. Theater groups sprang up with surprising speed on college campuses and in communities throughout the United States."^[3] Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Poster for Teatro Campesino performing at a strike benefit with Quicksilver Messenger Service July 1966 at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco. ...

As a media figure of the Chicano Movement, Valdez often lectures about El Teatro Campesino, media representations of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and the importance of Chicano-produced media in order to help countering negative ethnic stereotypes. The Chicano Movement, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement, and El Movimiento, is the part of the American Civil Rights Movement that searched for social liberation and power for Mexican Americans. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A 19th century childrens book informs its readers that the Dutch are a very industrious race, and that Chinese children are very obedient to their parents. ...

Mr. Valdez is a founding faculty member and director (c. 1994) of the California State University, Monterey Bay, Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department. He is helping develop a university program that prepares students in the entertainment industry: filmmaking, writing, sound, cinematography, and the like.^[4][5] California State University, Monterey Bay, in the California State University system, is located in the city of Seaside, California, on the Monterey Peninsula. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... ‹ The template below is being considered for deletion. ...

Zoot Suit (play and film)

Valdez's first work that brought him some attention to larger audiences was the play Zoot Suit which ran in 1978 at the Mark Taper Forum, in Los Angeles and played for forty-six weeks to more than 40,000 people. With Zoot Suit, Valdez became the first Chicano director to have a play presented on Broadway in 1979. Later, it was made into a film in 1981.^[6] The Mark Taper Forum is a small (<1000 seats) theater-in-the-round (thrust stage) at the Los Angeles Music Center. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Zoot Suit is a 1981 filmed version of the Broadway play Zoot Suit (play). ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

In Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial--when a group of young Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder--and the Zoot Suit Riots. The Sleepy Lagoon murder was a 1942 Los Angeles, California criminal trial of 22 Latino young men; the convictions were reversed on appeal in 1944. ... Zoot Suit riots, June 1943 For the swing album by Cherry Poppin Daddies, see Zoot Suit Riot (album) The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that erupted in Los Angeles, California during World War II, between sailors and soldiers stationed in the city and Mexican American youths, who...

La Bamba

The film that brought Valdez his "breakthrough into mainstream America" was La Bamba which debuted in 1987. The film, about Ritchie Valens, a popular Chicano 1950s rock and roller, "was an overwhelming box office success" according to BookRags.^[7] La Bamba is an American biographical film released in 1987 written and directed by Luis Valdez. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Ritchie Valens (born Ricardo Steven Valenzuela, May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959) was a pioneer of rock and roll and a forefather to the Latin Rock movement. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

Honors and awards (not inclusive)

• Golden Globe Award nominations for "Best Musical Picture," Zoot Suit and La Bamba.
• Cartagena Film Festival, Best Picture Award, Zoot Suit, 1982, Cartagena, Colombia.
• George Peabody Award for excellence in television in 1987, Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution for PBS.
• California Governor's Award, March, 1990.
• Mexico's Aguila Azteca Award, 1994.

The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... The Cartagena Film Festival is a Colombian festival that focuses on the promotion of Colombian television programs, Latin-American films, and videos. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... For other places with the same name, see Cartagena (disambiguation). ... The George Foster Peabody Awards, more commonly referred to as the Peabody Awards, are annual international awards given for excellence in radio and television broadcasting. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

Filmography

• The Cisco Kid (1994), writer and director. Valdez also had a small role as Presidente Benito Juárez.
• La Pastorela (1991), writer and director.
• Corridos: Tales of Passion & Revolution (1987), writer and director.
• La Bamba (1987), writer and director.
• Chicanos Story (1982), writer and director.
• Zoot Suit (1981), writer and director.

The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. ... For other uses, see Benito Juárez (disambiguation). ... La Bamba is an American biographical film released in 1987 written and directed by Luis Valdez. ... Zoot Suit is a 1981 filmed version of the Broadway play Zoot Suit (play). ...

References

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

External links

• Luis Valdez at the Internet Movie Database.
• Monterey Bay State TAT Department.