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a.k.a. Pablo Background: "Latinos are black, white, brown, beige. What does that say about our ancestors? We'll sleep with anybody!" Paul Rodriguez. Mexican-American comedian Paul Rodriguez, who honed in on his stand-up act at L.A.'s famous The Comedy Store, has branched out as an actor, writer, director and producer in TV and features. He has starred in the films "D.C. Cab" (1983), "Miracles" (1986), "Quicksilver" (1986), "Born in East L.A." (1987), "Made in America" (1993), "A Million to Juan" (1994), "Melting Pot" (1998), "Price of Glory" (2000), "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" (2001), "Tortilla Soup" (2001), "Rat Race" (2001), "Ali" (2001), "Blood Work" (2002), "Chasing Papi" (2003), "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your A**" (2003), and "A Cinderella Story" (2004). His upcoming films include "Vicious Circle," "Lonely Street," and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Rodriguez has appeared in countless television series and specials, most notably the ABC sitcom "a.k.a. Pablo" (1984), in which he starred as struggling Hispanic stand-up comic Paul 'Pablo' Rivera, and the Showtime dramatic series "Resurrection Blvd.," in which he played a recurring role as Paulie (2000-2001). He also won an NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Variety or Music Series/Special for his performance in "Latino Laugh Festival" (1996). Additionally, he has written/produced/starred in the specials "Paul Rodriguez Live!: I Need the Couch" (1986) and "The Original Latin Kings of Comedy" (2002), as well as the TV series "Show de Paul Rodriguez, El" (1990) and "Loco Slam" (1994). Rodriguez's son, Paul Rodriguez Jr., is a professional skateboarder and won the gold medal in the 2004 X Games Skateboard Street Competition.
Mexico-Born, L.A.-Raised
Childhood and Family: Born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, to parents who were migrant farm laborers, Paul Rodriguez moved from state to state as a child, working with his family as a fruit picker, before eventually settling in East Los Angeles. He attended Roosevelt High School before serving in the military, where he was stationed in Iceland and Duluth, Minnesota, and the Philippines as a Communications Officer in the Air Force. After finishing his military service, he went to California State University on the GI bill. Rodriguez has one son, Paul Rodriguez Jr., who is a professional skateboarder and won the gold medal in the 2004 X Games Skateboard Street Competition. Rodriguez is close friend of late stand-up comedian and actor Richard Jeni. Back in the '90s, Rodriguez, who once moved with his family to Compton a month before the Watts riots and has claimed to be a member of the Compton Varrio Setentas street gang when he was a teenager, began helping the El Centro Police Activites Leage in raising money to help keep the Imperial Valley youths off the streets and out of gangs. The money would provide them a recreation facility to play games and hang out. Later in early 2005, the city of El Centro announced that January 22nd will be named "Paul Rodriguez Day" due to his great yearly contributions in donating his talents to raise money to.
Latino Laugh Festival
Career: Initially planning to become an attorney, Paul Rodriguez began interested in comedy while taking elective courses at college. He then sharpened his stand-up act at L.A.'s famous The Comedy Store while working as a doorman there. In the late '70s, he got his first break as an opening act for others at various concerts and universities and as a warm-up comic on Norman Lear's short-lived sitcom starring Sally Struthers, "Gloria" (1982). In 1983, Rodriguez made his feature acting debut in Joel Schumacher-directed comedy film starring Mr. T, Max Gail, Adam Baldwin, Gary Busey, "D.C. Cab." In the following year, he starred as struggling Hispanic stand-up comic Paul 'Pablo' Rivera on the ABC sitcom "a.k.a. Pablo," which was produced by Lear. First aired on ABC on March 6, 1984, the show was canceled after seven broadcasts. Rodriguez subsequently branched out as host and made his debut as TV host on FOX's late-night talk show "The Late Show" (1986), and followed it up with another hosting job in the syndicated "The All New Newlywed Game" (1988). Meanwhile, as an actor, he co-starred with Teri Garr and Christopher Lloyd in Jim Kouf's independent comedy "Miracles" (1986) and with Kevin Bacon and Jami Gertz in Thomas Michael Donnelly's crime/drama/thriller "Quicksilver" (1986). He also teamed up with Michael O'Keefe, playing two dim-wited street pedlers, in John Byrum's comedy movie "The Whoopee Boys" (1986), and portrayed Cheech Marin's cousin in Marin-directed indie comedy "Born in East L.A." (1987). On the small screen, TV viewers could catch him in the pilot episode of "Hardesty House" and guest-starring in an episode of the anthology series "Tall Tales and Legends," NBC sitcom "The Golden Girls," and the short-lived "Trial and Error." Entering the new decade, Rodriguez had recurring role on the CBS action adventure series "Grand Slam" (1990), and made his debut as TV producer with "Paul Rodriguez: Behind Bars" (1991), in which he also appeared with Ice-T. He then appeared as Ralph, The Angel, in the comedic TV movie starring Kevin Conroy, "Hi Honey - I'm Dead" (1991), headlined the HBO live show "Live in San Quentin, Paul Rodriguez" (1995), and was featured in "Latino Laugh Festival" (1996), which won him an NCLR Bravo Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Variety or Music Series/Special. He was also spotted as a guest in an episode of the PBS long-running show "Great Performances," the educational series "The Eddie Files," CBS drama "Touched by an Angel," and FOX's Emmy-winning cartoon series "King of the Hill." Additionally, he made pilot for The WB sitcom "The Paul Rodriguez Show" in 1998 and received an ALMA Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Individual or Act in a Variety or Comedy Special for his performance in the TV special “Comic Relief VIII” (1998). During this time, Rodriguez executive-produced and starred in the HBO stand-up comedy series "Loco Slam" (1994), and made his feature directorial debut with the comedy "A Million to Juan" (1994), a modern spin on Mark Twain's story "The Million-Pound Bank Note" in which Rodriguez also starred as the title role of an honest Mexican immigrant, a widower with a young son, who struggles without a green card by selling oranges on a street corner. Meanwhile, Rodriguez supported Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson in Richard Benjamin's successful comedy film "Made in America" (1993) and was cast in Matthew Harrison's independet drama starring Jason Andrews, "Rhythm Thief" (1994). He also shared the screen with Bridget Fonda, Russell Crowe, and Jim Broadbent in Clare Peploe's film adaptation of James Hadley Chase's novel, "Rough Magic" (1995), and played the lead role of a house painter who runs for City Council and gets a real taste of the political world, in Tom Musca's independent political drama film "Melting Pot" (1998), opposite CCH Pounder. Hitting the new millennium, Rodriguez co-starred with Jimmy Smits in Carlos Ávila's boxing drama "Price of Glory," with Danny Aiello in Reuben Gonzalez's delightful romantic drama/comedy "Mambo Café," and with William Forsythe in Christopher Coppola's comedy action "G-Men from Hell." He also played a recurring role on the Showtime dramatic series "Resurrection Blvd." and provided his voice in the family TV movie "Ready to Run." 2001 saw Rodriguez played featured roles in Simon Wincer's comedy starring Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski, "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles," the Razzie Award-nominated sequel to the 1988 film "Crocodile Dundee II," and Spanish director Maria Ripoll's remake of Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman," "Tortilla Soup," in which he played Elizabeth Peña's love interest and received an ALMA Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. Also in 2001, he appeared in Jerry Zucker's ensemble comedy "Rat Race," playing an irate cabbie who lost a large sum of money due to Templeton's (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) blunder in the game, and co-starred with Matthew Modine, Elizabeth Berkley, and Nicholas Turturro in Alex Wright's indie crime comedy "The Shipment." Additionally, he portrayed Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, Muhammed Ali's former personal physician, in Michael Mann's biopic about the boxing legend, "Ali," starring Will Smith. Afterwards, Rodriguez appeared in Harry Basil's independent comedy "Back by Midnight" (2002; with Rodney Dangerfield, Randy Quaid, and Kirstie Alley), Clint Eastwood's film version of Michael Connelly's novel, "Blood Work" (2002; alongside Jeff Daniels and Anjelica Huston), and Rich Christiano's sci-fi drama "Time Changer" (2002; opposite D. David Morin and Gavin MacLeod). He also had an uncredited role in Linda Mendoza's comedy "Chasing Papi" (2003; starring Roselyn Sanchez, Sofía Vergara, Jaci Velasquez, and Eduardo Verástegui), and played roles in Mario Van Peebles's homage to his father Melvin's 1971 film, "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your A**" (2003), as well as in Mark Rosman's modern day fairytale starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray, "A Cinderella Story" (2004). Meanwhile, he guest-starred in an episode of the PBS drama starring Edward James Olmos and Constance Marie, "American Family," the anthology series "The Twilight Zone," Disney Channel's animated sitcom "The Proud Family," Nickelodeon's animated series "Dora the Explorer," and Disney Channel original comedy series "The Buzz on Maggie." Rodriguez was recently seen in Roger Donaldson's film based on the legendary speed bike racer from New Zealand named Burt Munro (portrayed by Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins), "The World's Fastest Indian" (2005), Harry Basil's volleyball comedy "Cloud 9" (2006; opposite Burt Reynolds), and Damon 'Coke' Daniels' comedy "Swap Meet" (2006). He also lent his voice in as Cupid in the straight-to-video released animated movie "Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen" (2006) and appeared in David Siqueiros' comedy/thriller "One Long Night" (2007). Currently, Rodriguez is busy on the set and will soon complete his upcoming films, "Vicious Circle," a drama directed by Paul Boyd which also stars his son Paul Rodriguez Jr., "Lonely Street," Peter Ettinger's film version of Steve Brewer's novel starring Jay Mohr, and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," a live-action comedy film by Walt Disney Pictures directed by Raja Gosnell in which Rodriguez will provide his voice alongside Drew Barrymore, George Lopez, Andy Garcia, and Jamie Lee Curtis. "It is my belief that Latinos in show business have to be self sufficient and creative while aggressively attempting to penetrate post-mogul Hollywood. Self- starting is becoming the path to serious studio support." Paul Rodriguez.
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