Biography
Early life
Trejo is a native of the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. His life as a youngster wasn't easy: he roamed the streets around his home area while committing various crimes and became addicted to drugs. He was in and out of jail many times as a teenager.
While on the streets, Trejo developed talent as a boxer and considered taking up boxing as a profession. That ambition was dashed by a long prison sentence. While serving time in San Quentin State Prison, he became the California state jail's champion in both the lightweight and welterweight categories. During this time, Trejo also successfully completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that helped him leave behind the lifestyle of crime and drugs.
Movie career
While attending a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in 1985, Trejo met a young man in the movie business. His newfound friend invited him to the set of Runaway Train, where Trejo was offered a job as an extra. Edward Bunker, himself a former convict and well-respected crime author who was writing the screenplay for the film (it was based on his novel 'No Beast So Fierce), recognized Trejo: they had done time together at San Quentin. Remembering Trejo's boxing skills, he offered Trejo $350 per day to train Eric Roberts, one of the movie's stars, for a boxing scene. Director Andrei Konchalovsky liked Trejo's work and decided to offer him a prominent role in the film.
Since then, he has shared the silver screen with a list of Hollywood's most famous actors, including Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, Charles Bronson, Jennifer Lopez, Edward Furlong, Tyra Banks, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Antonio Banderas. A very prolific actor, Trejo often appears in five or more movies each year across a wide variety of genres. Major releases in which he has acted include Anaconda, xXx, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Heat, From Dusk Till Dawn, Con Air, Six Days Seven Nights, Spy Kids, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and The Devil's Rejects.
Trejo appears as a playable character in Def Jam: Fight for NY, a video game to which the actor lent his voice and likeness. He had previously lent his voice to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the character Umberto Robina, who also resembles Trejo somewhat.
Trejo is known for his very distinctive appearance. In addition to his heavily lined face (usually sporting a long mustache), he has displayed the large tattoo on his chest for many roles. (The tattoo depicts a woman wearing a sombrero.) He often plays thugs or lowlife characters, although he has displayed range as a good guy with films such as Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids trilogy, Bubble Boy, Heat and an amusing guest appearance on the USA Network series Monk with art imitating life as a convict roommate to Tony Shalhoub's undercover detective.
Private life
Trejo is married to Debbie Trejo. He has three children: Danny Boy (b. 1981, from a previous marriage), Gilbert (b. 1988) and Danielle (b. 1994). He is the cousin of director Robert Rodríguez and often appears in his movies.
Trejo has said that he is amazed when he walks the streets where he used to commit crimes and children ask him for autographs. He also pointed out that he often chooses to play "bad guys" to teach young children that bad guys often die.
