Table of Biography
Edward James Olmos is a famous multi-talented actor, producer, and director from the United States. Edward James Olmos is recognized for his role as Lieutenant Martin “Marty” Castilo in the crime drama series, “Miami Vice.”
Early Life
On the 13th of February 1947, Edward James Olmos was born in East Los Angeles, California, the United States of America. He is 77 years old and has a birth sign of Pisces. In addition, he is an American citizen who belongs to a mixed ethnicity of Aztec-Spanish descent.
He is the son of Eleanor Huizar (mother) and Pedro Olmos (father). By profession, his father was a welder and mail carrier. Olmos grew up with his two siblings; a sister named Eleanor Olmos and a brother named Peter Olmos. When he was just seven, his parents get split up and he was primarily raised by his great-grandparents as his parents worked.
Caption: Edward James Olmos with his parents (Source: Getty Images)
Growing up, he wanted to pursue a baseball career and joined the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, playing as a catcher. He was also the Golden State batting champion. Moreover, he left baseball at the age of 15 to join a rock and roll band. However, his father refused his decision, causing an argument with him.
Edward James Olmos – Education and Early Career
Moving on to his academics, he went to Montebello High School and graduated in 1964. During this time, he was a member of a band called the Pacific Ocean, which he named. He was also the band’s lead vocalist.
The band performed at various Los Angeles clubs the following year and released their only record, ‘Purgatory,’ in 1968, which included classic songs such as “Tracks of My Tears,” “16 Tons,” and others. He enrolled in acting classes at East Los Angeles College and California State University the same year.
Professional Career
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Edward James Olmos transformed from music to acting, appearing in several small productions before landing his big break as the narrator, “El Pachuco,” in the play Zoot Suit, which dramatized the World War II-era rioting in California caused by tensions between Mexican-Americans and local police, known as the Zoot Suit riots.
The play was brought to Broadway, and Olmos was nominated for a Tony Award. Later, he portrayed the role in the film adaptation in 1981 and has appeared in several other films, including Wolfen, Blade Runner, and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez.
In 1980, he was cast in the post-apocalyptic science fiction film “Virus.” From 1984 to 1989, he played the police Lieutenant Martin Castillo in the television series “Miami Vice,” alongside Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1985.
Caption: The poster of the crime drama series, Miami Vice (Source: IMDb)
At the same time, he appeared in ‘Was it Worth It?,’ a short training video for the United States Postal Service about workplace theft. Meanwhile, he was offered to play the captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) on the science fiction television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” when it was in pre-production in 1986, but he declined it.
Continued working in successful works
In 1992, he directed and starred in the controversial crime film “American Me.” Moreover, he starred in the 1995 American independent drama film “My Family/Mi Familia” which is a multi-generational story of a Chicano family.
He made a brief appearance in the 1995 video for “I Will Remember” by the American rock band Toto, alongside actor Miguel Ferrer. In 1997, he co-starred in the film “Selena” with Jennifer Lopez. Later, in the 2001 film “In the Time of the Butterflies,” he portrayed Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.
In the NBC drama “The West Wing,” he played U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roberto Mendoza. From 2002 to 2004, he starred in the PBS drama “American Family: Journey of Dreams” as a recently widowed father of a Hispanic family.
From 2003 to 2009, he played Commander William Adama in the Sci-Fi Channel’s reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” miniseries and the subsequent television series. Additionally, he has directed four episodes of the show, “Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down,” “Taking a Break from All Your Worries,” “Escape Velocity,” and “Islanded in a Stream of Stars.” Later, this actor was cast in the television series “Dexter” for its sixth season. He played the role of Robert Gonzales in the second season of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
Social activism
Moreover, he often participated in social activities such as during the 1992 Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles, he went there to get communities cleaned up and rebuilt. He co-founded the non-profit organization, Latino Literacy Now along with Kirk Whisler in the year 1997. To date, approximately 700,000 people have attended Latino Books & Festivals held throughout the United States. Similarly, he established Latino Public Broadcasting in 1998. He supports the SENS Research Foundation.
Edward James Olmos – Awards
Caption: Edward James Olmos wins the Emmy Award (Source: Facebook)
Throughout his professional career, he has collected several awards and nominations. He has won two Golden Globe Awards (1985, 1994), four ALMA Awards (1997, 2003, 2005, 2006), one Primetime Emmy Award (1985), and one ‘Saturn Award’ (2008).
Net Worth 2024
As of 2023, his net worth is estimated at around $10 million while his earnings and salary are still unknown. He mainly earned through his profession as an actor, producer, and director.
Relationship Status
Talking about his personal life, Edward James Olmos is a divorced man. In the past, he has been married three times. Firstly, he married Kaija Keel in 1971. With the marriage, the couple had two children, Bodie and Mico, before divorcing in 1992.
Moreover, Bodie is a popular actor. Olmos has four adopted children named Daniela, Michael, Brandon, and Tamiko. Later, he married an actress Lorraine Bracco in 1994. In January 2002, Bracco filed for divorce in January 2002. The same year, he married actress Lymari Nadal and got divorced in 2013.
Controversy
A teenage girl states that she was sexually assaulted by Olmos in 1992, and filed suit for $15,0000. Meanwhile, he later paid the family a cash settlement but denied the allegations. Likewise, a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in a South Carolina hotel room in the year 1997.
At the time, he denied the allegation through his lawyer, who claimed the woman stalked Olmos and demanded a monetary settlement. In 2001, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 days in prison for his participation in the Navy-Vieques Protests against the United States Navy.
Body Measurements
Edward James Olmos stands 5 feet 9 inches tall (1.77 m) and weighs around 80 kg (176 lbs). In addition, he has a pair of brown eyes with brown hair color.
Social Media
On his Twitter page ‘@edwardjolmos’ there are over 161.8k followers. However, he is not active on Facebook and Instagram.