Luis Valdez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Luis Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright and film director. He is regarded as the father of Chicano theater.

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 to English. While in college, Valdez's first full-length play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, debuted at SJSU in 1963. He earned a degree in English in 1964.

After graduation, Valdez spent the next few months with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he was introduced to agitprop theatre. In 1965, Valdez returned to Delano, where he formed El Teatro Campesino, a farm workers' theater troupe.

As a media figure of the Chicano Movement, Valdez often lectured about El Teatro Campesino, media representations of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and the importance of Chicano-produced media in countering negative ethnic stereotypes.

[edit] Filmography

The Cisco Kid (1994), writer and director. Valdez also had a bit part in the role of President Benito Juárez.
La Pastorela (1991), writer and director.
Corridos: Tales of Passion & Revolution (1987), writer and director.
La Bamba (1987), writer and director.
Zoot Suit (1982), writer and director.