People (Births)

• 1947 – Edward James Olmos, American actor and director
• 1966 – Billy Zane, American actor and producer

Edward James Olmos

Edward James Olmos (born 24 February 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin “Marty” Castillo in Miami Vice (1984-1989), American Me (1992) (which he also directed), William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988) (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the English dub voice of Mito in the 2005 Disney dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In 2018 through 2022, he has played the father of two members of an outlaw motorcycle club in the FX series Mayans MC.

In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Olmos branched out from music into acting, appearing in many small productions, until his big break portraying the narrator, called “El Pachuco,” in the play Zoot Suit, which dramatised the World War II-era rioting in California brought about by the tensions between Mexican-Americans and local police.

For his work in Miami Vice, Olmos won the 1985 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. For his performance in Stand and Deliver, Olmos was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

He is also known for his roles as folk hero Gregorio Cortez in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film Selena, narrator El Pachuco in both the stage and film versions of Zoot Suit, and the voice of Chicharrón in Coco.

Over the course of his career, Olmos has been a pioneer for more diversified roles and images of Latinos in US media. His notable direction, production, and starring roles for films, made-for-TV movies, and TV shows include Wolfen, Triumph of the Spirit, Talent for the Game, American Me, The Burning Season, My Family/Mi Familia, Caught, 12 Angry Men, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca, Walkout, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, American Family, and Dexter.

Billy Zane

William George Zane Jr. (born 24 February 1966) is an American actor. His breakthrough role was in the 1989 Australian film Dead Calm, a performance that earned him a nomination for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actor. He has since appeared in numerous films and television series, notably playing the main antagonist Caledon Hockley in the epic romance disaster film Titanic (1997), for which he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Zane’s other film roles include Kit Walker / The Phantom in the superhero film The Phantom (1996), “Match” in the Back to the Future franchise, Lieutenant Val Kozlowski in Memphis Belle (1990), The Collector in Demon Knight (1995), Curtis Zampf in The Believer (2001), and Richard Miller in the Sniper film series. He also played the recurring role of John Justice Wheeler in the second season of the TV series Twin Peaks, and provided the voice of Ansem in the video game Kingdom Hearts (2002).