Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice, teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver, patriarch Abraham Quintanilla in the film Selena, Detective Gaff in Blade Runner, and narrator El Pachuco in both the stage and film versions of Zoot Suit. In 1988, Olmos was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film Stand and Deliver. He has also been a longtime pioneer for more diversified roles and images of Latinos in the U.S.... media besides from his most notable roles/work by him starring, directing and producing films, Made for TV Movies and TV shows such as American Me, The Burning Season, My Family/Mi Familia, 12 Angry Men, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca, Walkout, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and American Family: Journey of Dreams. Olmos was born Edward Olmos in Los Angeles, California, where he was raised, the son of Eleanor and Pedro Olmos, who was a welder and mail carrier. His father was a Mexican immigrant and his mother was Mexican American.
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