# Danny Trejo
**Danny Trejo** (born Dan Trejo in 1944, in Maywood, California) is an American actor known for playing tough criminals and villains in action films, and for a life story that runs from years of imprisonment and addiction to Hollywood stardom, restaurants, and recovery counseling.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) Of Mexican descent, he has appeared in hundreds of films and franchises including *Spy Kids* and *[Machete](https://www.edgepedia.org/machete-character)*, and by 2026 was credited with nearly 500 roles across film, television, gaming, and music.[2](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2026/08/17/why-danny-trejo-isnt-slowing-down-anytime-soon-i-refuse-to-be-a-boomer/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944, Maywood, California; birth name Dan Trejo; height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) |
| Early life | In and out of jail for 11 years; imprisoned for armed robbery and drug offenses; won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles at San Quentin[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) |
| Entry into acting | A 1985 visit to the set of *Runaway Train* as a drug counselor led to a convict extra role, then $320 per day training Eric Roberts in boxing, then a featured part[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) |
| Signature role | Machete, who first appeared in *Spy Kids* (2001) before the 2007 *Grindhouse* trailer and then his first major film lead in *Machete* (2010), a former Mexican federal agent[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/danny-trejo/) • [19](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/86678-robert-rodriguezs-machete-kills-eyes-april-start) |
| Screen deaths | A Buzz Bingo study counted 65 on-screen deaths, ranking him the actor who died the most in Hollywood cinema[4](https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/259726/files/2022_Jun_Jul.pdf) |
| Business ventures | Trejo's Tacos with 8 locations in the Los Angeles area, plus Trejo's Coffee & Donuts[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) |
| Memoir | *Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood* (Atria Books, 2021), written with actor Donal Logue[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2021/07/14/actor-danny-trejo-isnt-a-do-gooder-or-so-he-says/) |
## Early life and imprisonment
Trejo grew up in Echo Park, Los Angeles, the son of Alice Rivera and Dan Trejo, a construction worker.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) He has described a childhood split between households: the first seven years with his grandmother, five aunts, and five girl cousins, then a move in with his father, grandfather, and his father's five brothers, an environment he calls the source of his tough-guy persona.[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2021/07/14/actor-danny-trejo-isnt-a-do-gooder-or-so-he-says/) He was taken to a police station for the first time at age 10, and by his own account spent years in criminal mayhem in the [San Fernando Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-fernando-valley).[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-06-29/actor-danny-trejo-new-memoir)
His adolescence and young adulthood were shaped by heroin addiction and repeated incarceration. He did time in a juvenile detention center and in San Quentin, Folsom, and Soledad on charges relating to drugs.[8](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13827204/danny-trejo-on-acting-addiction-and-playing-the-mean-chicano-dude) While serving at San Quentin he won the prison's lightweight and welterweight boxing titles, and he completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that he credits with changing his life.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) In a 2012 interview he said he had faced three capital offenses in solitary confinement and was released from prison in 1969, after which he became a drug counselor.[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/06/danny-trejo-hole-gas-chamber) In 2023 he marked more than five decades of sobriety.[10](https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-12-13/danny-trejo-sobriety-non-alcoholic-cocktails-trejos-cantina-hollywood)
## Entry into acting
Trejo's acting career began by accident in 1985. While speaking at a Cocaine Anonymous meeting he met a young man who later called him for support; Trejo went to the set of *Runaway Train* (1985) to help him.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) On set he ran into the screenwriter [Edward Bunker](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-bunker), who had done time with him in San Quentin and remembered his boxing skills; Bunker offered him $320 per day to train the actors for a boxing scene.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) While watching Trejo put [Eric Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-roberts) through a workout, director [Andrei Konchalovsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrei-konchalovsky) at once cast him in a prominent part as the man who would fight Roberts on screen.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/) Trejo was in his late thirties when this new career began.[11](https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/latinx-media.pdf?t=1746921600042)
## Film and television career
For the first five years of his movie career Trejo played unnamed menacing characters; he did not attend acting school, drawing instead on his own history.[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2021/07/14/actor-danny-trejo-isnt-a-do-gooder-or-so-he-says/) Substantial supporting turns arrived in 1995: he was the knife-wielding hood Navajas in [Robert Rodriguez](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-rodriguez)'s *Desperado*, and played a member of [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro)'s bank-robbery crew in [Michael Mann](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-mann)'s *Heat*.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/danny-trejo/) His filmography grew to include *Con Air*, the *From Dusk Till Dawn* series, *Once Upon a Time in Mexico*, the *Spy Kids* movies, the *Bad Ass* trilogy, *Death Race 2* and *Death Race: Inferno*, *Muppets Most Wanted*, and *3 from Hell*.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) In Rodriguez's films his character is almost always named for a weapon.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-02-la-et-danny-trejo-20100902-story.html)
**Machete.** The character began as a mock trailer in *[Grindhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/grindhouse-film)* and was expanded into the full-length *Machete* (2010), with Trejo in his first major film lead as a former Mexican federal agent who joins a Hispanic resistance army against a racist senator played by Robert De Niro.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/danny-trejo/) A sequel, *Machete Kills*, followed in 2013.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) Trejo has said he never feared being typecast; as he put it in one interview, "I didn't know I was typecast. I just knew I was working."
On television he had recurring roles on *Sons of Anarchy*, *King of the Hill*, *Breaking Bad*, and *The Flash*, and appeared in episodes of *Blue Bloods*, *What We Do in the Shadows*, *Brooklyn Nine-Nine*, and *Kidding*.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) He has done extensive voice work in animation and games, including *The Book of Life*, *Storks*, *Rick and Morty*, *American Dad!*, *Family Guy*, *Big City Greens*, and *Minions 2: The Rise of Gru*.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) Since 2024 he has hosted the Sky HISTORY series *Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo*.[13](https://www.history.co.uk/articles/who-is-danny-trejo-mysteries-unearthed)
A widely reported Buzz Bingo study counted 65 on-screen deaths for Trejo, ranking him ahead of [Christopher Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-lee) as the actor who dies most often in Hollywood cinema.[4](https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/259726/files/2022_Jun_Jul.pdf)
## Restaurants, memoir, and recovery work
Trejo parlayed his name into a Los Angeles restaurant group: Trejo's Tacos grew to 8 locations, joined by Trejo's Coffee & Donuts, and he released a cookbook, *Trejo's Tacos: Recipes and Stories from LA*, in April 2020.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography) His life story is chronicled in the bio-documentary *Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo*, released in July 2020.[5](https://dannytrejo.com/biography)
His memoir, *Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood* (Atria Books, 2021), written with his friend, the actor [Donal Logue](https://www.edgepedia.org/donal-logue), covers his prison years, including time alongside [Charles Manson](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-manson), his recovery, his family struggles, and his business career.[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2021/07/14/actor-danny-trejo-isnt-a-do-gooder-or-so-he-says/) • [14](https://www.salon.com/2021/08/07/danny-trejo-memoir-salon-talks/) He has continued working as an intervention counselor, and in 2019 the Los Angeles Press Club gave him its Visionary Award for his long role as a counselor and his work helping others.[15](https://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-NAEJ.pdf)
## Pawn Shop and the 2026 controversy
In 2026 Trejo starred in *Pawn Shop*, an immigration-enforcement drama co-produced by [The Daily Wire](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-daily-wire), the right-wing media company founded by [Ben Shapiro](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-shapiro) in 2015, and [Bonfire Legend](https://www.edgepedia.org/bonfire-legend), and featuring Harvey Keitel, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Emile Hirsch, Dean Norris, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.[16](https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2026-10-05/danny-trejo-ice-movie-ben-shapiro-daily-wire-pauses-filming-after-locals-protest) • [17](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rob-lowe-looks-nearly-unrecognizable-in-confession-role) The film, reportedly inspired by the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, temporarily stopped filming in Livingston, Montana, after local protests, then restarted.[16](https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2026-10-05/danny-trejo-ice-movie-ben-shapiro-daily-wire-pauses-filming-after-locals-protest)
Facing backlash, Trejo said in an Instagram post that he was "obviously pro-immigrant" and "not pro-ICE," describing his work as a storyteller's job.[17](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rob-lowe-looks-nearly-unrecognizable-in-confession-role) His son Gilbert Trejo said his father had never heard of Ben Shapiro before signing on and was contractually unable to say anything negative about Shapiro or the project.[18](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/danny-trejo-ben-shapiro-pro-ice-daily-wire-film-41275/) Trejo, who turned 82 in 2026, told Forbes that year that he had no plans to slow down: "I ain't ready to cash in my chips yet."[2](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2026/08/17/why-danny-trejo-isnt-slowing-down-anytime-soon-i-refuse-to-be-a-boomer/)
## References
1. [Danny Trejo Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001803/bio/)
2. [Why Danny Trejo Isn't Slowing Down Anytime Soon, Forbes (Josh Weiss, August 17, 2026)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2026/08/17/why-danny-trejo-isnt-slowing-down-anytime-soon-i-refuse-to-be-a-boomer/)
3. [Danny Trejo – Actor, Restaurateur, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/danny-trejo/)
4. [San Quentin News, June–July 2022 (Buzz Bingo on-screen deaths study)](https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/259726/files/2022_Jun_Jul.pdf)
5. [Biography, Danny Trejo official site](https://dannytrejo.com/biography)
6. [Actor Danny Trejo Isn't A Do-Gooder. Or So He Says., Forbes (Court Stroud, July 14, 2021)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/courtstroud/2021/07/14/actor-danny-trejo-isnt-a-do-gooder-or-so-he-says/)
7. [Danny Trejo on his new memoir, recovery, Edward James Olmos, Los Angeles Times (June 29, 2021)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-06-29/actor-danny-trejo-new-memoir)
8. [Danny Trejo on Acting, Addiction and Playing 'The Mean Chicano Dude', KQED/NPR (March 14, 2018)](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13827204/danny-trejo-on-acting-addiction-and-playing-the-mean-chicano-dude)
9. [Danny Trejo: 'I went to the hole looking at three gas-chamber offences', The Guardian (December 6, 2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/dec/06/danny-trejo-hole-gas-chamber)
10. [Danny Trejo on 55 years of not drinking, Los Angeles Times (December 13, 2023)](https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2023-12-13/danny-trejo-sobriety-non-alcoholic-cocktails-trejos-cantina-hollywood)
11. [Latinx Media Student Key Creatives Profiles, University of North Georgia Press](https://web.ung.edu/media/university-press/latinx-media.pdf?t=1746921600042)
12. [Danny Trejo, a lethal talent, Los Angeles Times (September 2, 2010)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-02-la-et-danny-trejo-20100902-story.html)
13. [Who is Danny Trejo? Mysteries Unearthed, Sky HISTORY](https://www.history.co.uk/articles/who-is-danny-trejo-mysteries-unearthed)
14. [Danny Trejo reflects on life, prison and Hollywood, Salon (August 7, 2021)](https://www.salon.com/2021/08/07/danny-trejo-memoir-salon-talks/)
15. [2019 Visionary Award, Los Angeles Press Club](https://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-NAEJ.pdf)
16. [Danny Trejo's Daily Wire ICE movie is back in production after local outcry shut it down, Los Angeles Times (October 5, 2026)](https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2026-10-05/danny-trejo-ice-movie-ben-shapiro-daily-wire-pauses-filming-after-locals-protest)
17. ['80s Teen Idol Looks Nearly Unrecognizable in New Role, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/rob-lowe-looks-nearly-unrecognizable-in-confession-role)
18. [Danny Trejo Had 'Never Heard' of Ben Shapiro Before Signing On for Daily Wire's 'Pawn Shop,' Says His Son, Variety (October 2026)](https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/danny-trejo-ben-shapiro-pro-ice-daily-wire-film-41275/)
19. [Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills Eyes April Start](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/86678-robert-rodriguezs-machete-kills-eyes-april-start)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Character actors, B-movie and genre-circuit performers › American performers, recent era*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license