Daniel Valdez
| Daniel Valdez | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 27, 1949 California |
Daniel "Danny" Valdez[1] (born April 27, 1949)[2] is an American actor, musician, composer and activist. He is best known for his work as musical director of the films Zoot Suit (1981) and La Bamba (1987).[3]
Early life
Valdez was born to Francisco and Armida Valdez.[4] His brother is Luis Valdez.[5][6][7] In 1966, Valdez joined Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers union.[8]
Career
Valdez and his brother co-founded the theater group, Teatro Campesino.[8][9][10][11] In 1973, Valdez's first solo album, Mestizo, became the first Chicano album to be produced by a major label, A&M Records.[8][10][12][13]
During the late 1970s, Valdez appeared in such films as Which Way Is Up? (1977), with Richard Pryor, and The China Syndrome, with Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas.[8][9][12] He garnered recognition for playing Henry Reyna on Broadway in his brother's 1979 play, Zoot Suit.[14][15] In 1981, Valdez reprised his role in the film adaptation of the same name, for which he also co-wrote the original music.[8][9][16] He also composed music for the play as well.[13]
In 1987, Valdez served as an associate producer of La Bamba, the biopic based on the life of Ritchie Valens.[17][18] The project, which became a hit, was a "life-long dream" of Valdez's that came true.[8] That same year, he appeared and wrote songs in Born in East L.A. (1987), starring Cheech Marin.[8][9][12] He performed some of the featured songs in that film.[4] Daniel Valdez sang and played guitar on Linda Ronstadts multi platinum album Canciones De Mi Padre. The album won the Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album in 1988.
In 1996, Valdez composed the original score to the IMAX documentary, Mexico.[4][8][12] In 1997, Valdez served as a musical consultant and a historical expert for the San Diego Repertory Theatre and Southwestern College's revival of Zoot Suit.[4][8][12] While he was at Southwestern, Valdez wrote his first original musical, Ollin.[4][8]
In 2000, he appeared in the musical, Selena Forever.[8][9] That same year, he reprised his role as musical director at the Goodman Theater in Chicago for their production of Zoot Suit.[12] The next year, he participated in another production of the play with his brother, Luis.[19]
In 2010, Valdez acted in the TheatreWorks production of José Cruz González's play, Sunsets and Margaritas at the Lucie Stern Theatre.[20]
Select filmography
- Which Way Is Up? (1977)
- The China Syndrome (1979)
- Zoot Suit (1981)
- La Bamba (1987)
- Born in East L.A. (1987)
References
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External links
- Daniel Valdez at the Internet Movie Database
- Daniel Valdez at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
