Object Details
- Artist
- George Rodríguez, born 11 Aug 1937
- Sitter
- Edward James Olmos, born 24 Feb 1947
- Exhibition Label
- Edward James Olmos had his breakthrough as an actor in 1978 in the role of El Pachuco, the narrator in Luis Valdez’s musical Zoot Suit, about the Sleepy Lagoon murder in 1942 and the subsequent riots between Euro-American servicemen and Mexican American youths. When the play moved to Broadway a year later, Olmos’s electrifying performance earned him a Tony nomination and a role in the film version of the play. He became a household name in the mid- to late 1980s through his award-winning incarnation of Lieutenant Martin Castillo in the TV series Miami Vice. This was followed by an Academy Award nomination in 1988 for his down-to-earth portrayal of high school math teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver. On the wake of the film’s success, Olmos, who is also an activist, lectured nationally on the need for educational reforms in Latino schools.
- George Rodríguez’s double career as a celebrity photographer and a visual chronicler of the Chicano experience converge in this portrait of Olmos.
- Edward James Olmos saltó a la fama como actor en 1978 con el papel de El Pachuco, el narrador en el musical Zoot Suit de Luis Valdez, que trataba sobre el asesinato ocurrido en Sleepy Lagoon en 1942 y los disturbios subsiguientes entre soldados euro-estadounidenses y jóvenes mexico-estadounidenses. Cuando la obra se trasladó a Broadway un año después, la actuación electrizante de Olmos le mereció la nominación al premio Tony y un papel en la versión cinematográfica de la obra. En la década de 1980, se hizo muy conocido con su premiada actuación como el teniente Martín Castillo en la serie de televisión Miami Vice. A esto siguió una nominación al Oscar en 1988 por su realista interpretación del maestro de matemáticas de escuela secundaria Jaime Escalante en la película Stand and Deliver. A raíz del éxito de la película, Olmos, quien también es activista, recorrió el país dando conferencias sobre la necesidad de reformas educativas en las escuelas con mayoría de alumnos hispanos.
- La doble carrera de George Rodríguez como fotógrafo de celebridades y cronista visual de la experiencia chicana se plasma en este retrato de Olmos.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.
- 1980
- Object number
- NPG.2015.53
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- ©1992 George Rodríguez
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 21 × 21.8 cm (8 1/4 × 8 9/16")
- Sheet: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 × 11")
- Place
- United States\Texas\Kinney\Brackettville
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior\Restaurant
- Edward James Olmos: Male
- Edward James Olmos: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
- Edward James Olmos: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Actor
- Edward James Olmos: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Director
- Edward James Olmos: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Producer
- Edward James Olmos: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Activist
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2015.53
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm451801ae7-eae2-4183-b708-575a3f57d1f6
