Biography for
Paul Rodriguez (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

Friendly as all get-out, Latino stand-up comic Paul Rodriguez was born in Mexico but raised in East Los Angeles. After finishing his military service, he went to college on the GI bill with the idea of becoming an attorney, but developed an interest in comedy while taking elective courses. He honed his stand-up act at L.A.'s famous The Comedy Store while working as a doorman there, and got his break as an opening act for others at various concerts and universities and as a warm-up comic on Norman Lear's short-lived sitcom "Gloria" (1982) starring Sally Struthers.

Lear was so impressed that he wrote and developed a sitcom specifically for Paul entitled "a.k.a. Pablo" (1984), which caught the public's eye only briefly. Other comedy series followed, however, including "Trial and Error" (1988) and "Grand Slam" (1990), and a few movies also came his way with D.C. Cab (1983) and Born in East L.A. (1987). Sticking to his Latino roots as the basis for his comedy, he has made an appealing crossover hit. He broke through the talk show venue with "El Show de Paul Rodriguez", which had a four-year run, and branched out into directing with the film A Million to Juan (1994), which he also co-wrote and starred in. More recently, he appeared with Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) and had an atypical role in director Clint Eastwood's Blood Work (2002) as an arrogant, smarmy police detective. More recently, he has been visible (good or bad) in A Cinderella Story (2004), The World's Fastest Indian (2005) and Cloud 9 (2006).

He also executive-produced and starred in the comedy concert film The Original Latin Kings of Comedy (2002). He has been seen everywhere on cable comedy showcases, including Paul Rodriguez: Behind Bars (1991) (TV), Crossing White Lines (1999), Paul Rodriguez Live!: I Need the Couch (1986) (TV) and "Loco Slam" (1994), all of which have helped him to become one of the best and best known Hispanic comics in the US. These days, Paul is known for his tireless charity work, which includes strong, avid support for the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Farm Aid, Leukemia Telethon, Project Literacy, and Housing Now, among many others.

Trivia

Formerly stationed in Iceland; Duluth, Minnesota; and the Phillipines as a Communications Officer in the Air Force

He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."

Claimed to be a member of the Compton Varrio Setentas street gang when he was a teenager.

During his live show in San Quentin, Rodriguez found several childhood friends with whom he grew up in Compton.

Moved with his family to Compton a month before the Watts riots.

Paul began helping the El Centro Police Activites Leage in raising money, back in the mid 90s. He would donate his time and his talent for the annual 'Fiesta De Loco's' comedy show. The money raised would go to help keep the Imperial Valley youths off the streets and out of gangs, by giving them a recreation facility to play games and hang out. To Paul's surprise, on January 22nd 2005, before his performance, The city of El Centro announced that January 22nd will be named "Paul Rodriguez Day", due to his great yearly contributions in donating his talents to raise money to. Paul went on to tell the story about how his career started and the struggles of growing up segueing into his comedy bit for the night.

Close friend of Richard Jeni.

Chairman of the California Latino Water Coalition.

Rushed to a Washington, D.C. hospital on October 1, 2009 complaining of severe abdominal pain.

His son, Paul Rodriguez is a professional skateboarder won the gold medal in the 2004 X Games Skateboard Street Competition.

Personal Quotes

Latinos are black, white, brown, beige. What does that say about our ancestors? We'll sleep with anybody!

It is my belief that Latinos in show business have to be self sufficient and creative while aggressively attempting to penetrate post-mogul Hollywood. Self- starting is becoming the path to serious studio support.

Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game.