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Luis Valdez was born in Delano, California, and was the son of migrant farm workers. Luis is still alive to this day. He began working in the fields with his parents at the age of 6 and he has nine brothers and sisters. -
Luis Valdez was born in Delano, California, and was the son of migrant farm workers. Luis is still alive to this day. He began working in the fields with his parents and nine brothers and sisters when he was six years old.
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Luis Valdez joined a the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He couldn't stop telling stories and writing plays, though. During this time, he developed agitprop theater techniques, in which a performance presents political viewpoints and attempts to convince the audience to act on those viewpoints. -
He started El Teatro Campesino, an agricultural worker theater in California, in 1965. This project inspired young Mexican American activists around the country to use the stage to speak out about their country's history, myths, and current political problems. -
The reason for the migrant workers to do the strike was because of unhealthy working conditions and worked for long periods of time with low wages and no benefits. -
Valdez and El Teatro Campesino abandoned their vineyards and lettuce fields in order to build a theater for the Mexican American people. Teatro chicano, an agitprop theater that combined classic theatrical traditions with Mexican humor, character types, history, and popular culture, grew out of the movement. -
He married Lupe Trujillo-Valdez and had 4 children with her. -
Valdez released a book of acts for the Mexican-American community and school theater groups. He also provided various theatrical and political ideals to the organizations. -
Valdez's idea of a national theater that developed art based on Mexican American folklore and civil rights issues was realized. In 1976, the Mexican American theater movement achieved a peak. -
Valdez broke into public theater in 1978 after his popular play Zoot Suit, about Mexican-American gang members during 1942-1943 in Los Angeles racial riots. -
They wanted to make the play Zoot Suit into a film but failed to, due to critics and audience. -
La Bamba is a film that follows the life and short-lived musical career of Mexican-American Chicano rock and roll star Ritchie Valens. This helped Luis Valdez showcase the lives of Mexican Americans to a wider audience -
George Peabody Award -
The Governors Award
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In 1994, he began writing the script for a film on César Chávez, 1994. He also had remained El Teatro Campesino's creative director. -
Mexico's prestigious Aguila Azteca Award -
As one of fifty US artists honored across the country, he received a Rockefeller award. -
Luis' drama Valley of the Heart received its world premiere at El Teatro Campesino in remote San Juan Bautista, California. -
In September of 2016, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama. -
In May of 2017, the San Jose University awarded Luis Valdez for the universities highest award given San Jose State exemplors. -
In 2014, this play premiered in El Teatro Campesino, and in 2018, Valley of the Heart opened to rave revues and sold out to audiences at the Mark Taper Forum/Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. -
"Adios Mama Carlota" was a new play Mr. Valdez wrote and it premiered at San Jose Stage Company. -
Mr. Valdez was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for directing the Sedona International Film Festival. -
The book "Theatre of the Sphere: the Vibrant Being" is a book that was published by Routledge Press in London. -
Valdez, L. (2022, May 17). Luis Valdez. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Valdez Valdez, Luis. (2022). Luis Valdez. Biography. Retrieved June 27, 2022, from https://biography.yourdictionary.com/luis-valdez
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Writing Bernabé highlighted the influence of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who also attempts to give the common people heroic and legendary status, and it also marked the beginning of Valdez's quest for the significance of Aztec and Mayan mythology, history, and philosophy.