Luis Valdez

Luis Valdez is a playwright, screenwriter, film director, voice actor, and teacher. Known as the father of Chicano film and playwriting, his notable works include the play "Zoot Suit" and the movie La Bamba. Valdez founded El Teatro Campesino, a theatre troupe focused on the farm workers' struggle during the Great Delano Grape Strike in California's Central Valley in 1965. His work is deeply influenced by his involvement with Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers, and the early Chicano Movement. His plays often present an examination of Chicano urban life, a re-envisioning of classic Mexican folktales, and an exploration of his Indigenous Yaqui roots.

Valdez's film and television contributions are extensive, including the box office hit films La Bamba and Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution, both of which earned him nominations for the Golden Globe Award. His play, "Zoot Suit," revisits two significant historical moments in Los Angeles. It was the first Chicano play on Broadway and the first major Chicano feature film. It ran for 46 weeks, was made into a film in 1981, and was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2019. His other film, La Bamba, was also inducted into the National Film Registry in 2017.

Valdez's distinguished career has won him several awards, including the George Peabody Award for excellence in television, the Aguila Azteca Award, the Presidential Medal of the Arts, and the National Medal of Arts he received from President Obama in 2015. In addition to this, Valdez is a founding faculty member and director of the California State University, Monterey Bay Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department. His recent play, "Valley of the Heart," debuted to sold-out audiences at the Mark Taper Forum/Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles in 2018.

As an educator, he has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and Fresno State University and was one of the founding professors of CSU Monterey Bay. He has received honorary doctorates from several institutions, including the University of Rhode Island, the University of South Florida, Cal Arts, the University of Santa Clara, and his alma mater, San Jose State University. Valdez was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He continues to contribute to film and theatre, most recently as a voice actor in the film Coco and his new play "Adios Mama Carlota," which premiered at San Jose Stage Company in 2019.