Biography
For more than 30 years, pioneering actor, filmmaker and activist Edward James Olmos has been creating memorable characters in projects that have burned themselves into our imagination.
Olmos received his first big in the 1970s with a role in the groundbreaking Chicano play Zoot Suit, for which he earned a Tony award nomination. From there, he began racking up parts in classic films such as Kinji Fukasaku’s post-apocalyptic Japanese film, Virus (1980), the crime horror films Wolfen (1981), Ridley Scott’s cult classic Blade Runner (1982), and Stand and Deliver (1988), for which Olmos became the first American-born Latino to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He directed and starred in the controversial crime film American Me (1992), starred in My Family (1995), a multi-generational story of a Chicano family, and starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the biographical musical drama Selena (1997).
His is work on television is equally impressive. Olmos won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his work on Miami Vice, as Lt. Martin Castillo. However, many consider his most beloved role is that of Admiral William Adama on the Syfy Channel's critically acclaimed, award-winning reimagining of Battlestar Galactica.
Whether protesting for those in need or making art to feed the soul, Edward James Olmos is a man dedicated to giving of himself and a beloved star (literally ... asteroid 5608 Olmos is named in his honour).