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Luis Miguel Valdez (born June 26, 1940) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. -
Born in Delano, California in 1940 to migrant farmworkers, Valdez moved frequently with his family and attended many schools. He developed an interest in theater in grade school, and helped organize plays and puppet shows in his garage. -
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. -
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. -
He started El Teatro Campusano, 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. -
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. Add tags + -
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. -
George Peabody Award -
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 -
The Governors Award -
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. -
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. -
The COVID-19 pandemic killed nearly 16 million people worldwide in 2020 and 2021 and caused global life expectancy to decline by 1.6 years between 2019 and 2020. However, it did not erase the progress of the past 72 years. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy increased by almost 23 years from 49 to 71.7 years. -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Valdez
Luis Valdez
Luis Valdez: The Father of Chicano American Theatre and ...
Luis Valdez: Biography, Plays Quotes | Vaia
https://www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/Profiles/Pages/Luis-Valdez.aspx