EDWARD JAMES OLMOS THE ACTOR
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER EDWARD JAMES OLMOS’ ASTOUNDING RANGE AS AN ACTOR HAS GARNERED GREAT ACCLAIM. FROM CRIMINAL TO COP, IN DRAMA OR COMEDY, IN THE PAST OR THE FUTURE, THROUGH FANTASY OR GRITTY REALITY, OLMOS BRINGS HUMANITY AND TRUTH TO HIS PERFORMANCES.
As “Drunk Man” in Alambrista (1977)
Synopsis: After his daughter’s birth, Roberto leaves his town in Michoacan to make money in the United States, where hard work is not enough.
*Although the role was small in this movie, it was Olmo’s first piece with Director, Robert M. Young, which led to lifetime collaboration.
As “Lopez” in Virus (1980)
Synopsis: A military-engineered virus, released during a plane crash, kills the entire human population.
As “Eddie Holt” in Wolfen (1981)
Synopsis: A New York cop (Albert Finney) investigates a series of brutal deaths that resemble animal attacks.
As “Gaff” in Blade Runner (1982)
Synopsis: Deckard, a blade runner, with the help of Gaff, has to track down and terminate 4 replicants who hijacked a ship in space and have returned to earth seeking their maker.
As “Santa Ana” in Seguin (1982)
Synopsis: Seguin served as provisional mayor of San Antonio and led a band of Tejanos against Santa Ana’s army in 1835. He was at the Alamo.
As “Gregorio Cortez” in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)
Synopsis: The retelling of an incident in Gonzales, Texas in 1901 revolving around a stolen horse, mistaken identity and a killing.
As the “Prime Minister” in “The Nightingale” (1983)
Hosted by Shelley Duval, the Faerie Tale Theatre series featured some of the best-known stars in Hollywood performing adaptations of traditional stories.
As “Ciolino” in Saving Grace (1985)
Synopsis: A newly-elected Pope Leo XIV finds himself accidentally locked out of the Vatican. Unknown to the outside world, he winds up in an impoverished Italian village.
As “Maranzano” in Bonanno: The Godfather’s Story(1999)
Synopsis: The true life story of mafia boss Joesph Bonanno. The story spans from Bonanno’s early beginings in Italy, to his conquests in America
As “Jaime Escalante” in Stand and Deliver (1987)
Synopsis: A high school math teacher leads his students to victory.
As “Frank Cobo” in The Fortunate Pilgrim (1988)
Synopsis:A young Italian wife and mother is widowed on the day she becomes a naturalized citizen. She marries Frank Corbo who is mentally ill.
As a “Gypsy Capo” in Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
Synopsis: A former Greek Olympic boxer is taken as a prisoner during World war II and placed in the Auschwitz prison camp.
As “Virgil Sweet” in Talent for the Game (1991)
Synopsis: Virgil Sweet is on the verge of losing his job as a talent scout with the California Angels when he discovers a country boy with no pro experience but with a pitching arm that is amazing.
As “Santana Montoya” in American Me (1992)
Synopsis: A gangster discovers too late that he did have a choice about the direction of his life.
As “Gallo in Roosters” (1993)
Synopsis: Gallo Morales returns home after a seven-year stint for manslaughter. He comes back as a champion breeder for the rooster bred by his father.
As “The Angel” in A Million to Juan (1994)
Synopsis: Romantic comedy about an honest Mexican immigrant (Paul Rodriguez) who struggles without a green card by selling oranges on a street corner.
As “Wilson Pinheiro” in The Burning Season (1994)
Synopsis: Based on the true story of Brazilian rubber tapper Chico Mendez (Raul Julia) who leads his people in protest against government and developers who want to cut down their part of the rainforest.
As “Matteo Juarez” in Mirage (1995)
Synopsis: Matteo Juarez is a retired detective hired by a local businessman to follow his wife Jennifer who has a split personality and keeps putting herself in danger.
As “Potiphar” in Slave Of Dreams (1995)
Synopsis: The Egyptian executioner’s wife tries to seduce Hebrew slave Joseph, to fulfill a dream they are experiencing simultaneously.
As “Pacos” in My Family/mi familia (1995)
Synopsis: A sweeping saga of three generations of the Sanchez family’s trials, tribulations, tragedies, and triumphs.
As “Jon Lucca” in The Limbic Region (1996)
Synopsis: A San Francisco detective, obsessed with catching a serial killer who has been committing murders for over 20 years, tries to force a suspect into confessing.
As “Capt. Salazar” in Dead Man’s Walk (1996)
Synopsis: In this prequel to Lonesome Dove, everyone on the plains is having troubles with the Apache and Comanche tribes.
As “Joe” in Caught (1996)
A couples’ quiet life is disrupted by a drifter they befriend.
As “Abraham Quintanilla” in Selena (1997)
Synopsis: A young Mexican-American singer is killed just as her career takes off.
As “Stan Navarro” in Hollywood Confidential (1997)
Synopsis: A former LA cop runs a top-flight private detective agency that caters to spoiled Hollywood types.
As “Roberto Lozano” in The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997)
Synopsis: A journalist starts an investigation into the disappearance of poet and political agitator, Garcia Lorca.
As “Col. Holst” in The Wall (1998)
Synopsis: the experiences of three young soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam. Each account captures the spirit of the times and the conflicting feelings of those who stand and pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.v
As “Vamenos” in The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Synopsis: Gomez is a middle-aged man who dreams of buying a gorgeous white suit in a nearby store but doesn’t have enough cash. He finds 4 more people of same size who each give $20 and get to wear the suit for an hour each in return.
As “Detective Curtis” in Gossip (2000)
College students spread a rumor with dire results.
As “Nestor Garcia” in The Princess and the Barrio Boy (2000)
A teenager who dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer has a romance with a boy from the wrong side of town.
As “Judge Armando Acosta” in The Judge (2001)
An honorable judge is accused of a crime.
As “Trujillo” in In the Time of the Butterflies (2001)
Inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government.
As “Captain Garcia” in Splinter (2006)
A gang member, suffering from severe memory loss, searches for his brother’s murderer.
As “Commander Adama” in Battlestar Galactica (miniseries, 2003-2009)
After a Cylon attack, remains humans struggle to survive.
