Danny Trejo

Trejo has been married and divorced four times. His marriages were to Laura from 1962 to 1965, Debbie Schipek from 1971 to 1975, Joanne Discuillo from 1975 to 1978, and Debbie Shreve, whom he married in 1997 and divorced in 2009.

He has three children: Danny Trejo, filmmaker Gilbert Trejo, and actress Danielle Trejo. His children are from relationships with Diana Walton and Maeve Crommie. Trejo has also spoken about making amends for the harm his past drug use and criminal lifestyle caused in his relationships.

Trejo spent much of his youth and the 1960s in juvenile facilities and California prisons. He was imprisoned for armed robbery and drug offenses, and during his time at San Quentin he managed boxing activities and won the institution's lightweight and welterweight titles. He also became involved in contraband operations and debt collection.

In 1968, while held in solitary confinement at Soledad State Prison and facing the possibility of a death sentence after a prison riot, Trejo embraced sobriety and became involved in a 12-step program. He was released in 1969 and remained sober. By 1973, he was working in drug rehabilitation, counseling people dealing with substance abuse and later helping young people facing drug charges.

His experience in recovery became a major part of his public life. He has participated in charitable efforts, including collecting food and distributing clothing, and in 2015 helped support a change to California's penal code that gave parole-hearing access to inmates sentenced as juveniles.

Trejo entered Hollywood in 1985 while continuing his counseling work. He went to the set of Runaway Train to help a young person with cocaine problems and was offered work as a convict extra. Screenwriter Eddie Bunker, who had known Trejo from San Quentin, recognized his boxing ability and hired him to train Eric Roberts for the film's boxing scenes.

Director Andrei Konchalovsky saw Trejo training Roberts and cast him as Roberts's boxing opponent. The role marked Trejo's acting breakthrough and began a career in which his appearance and life experience often led to parts as inmates, gangsters, assassins, and other criminals.

Trejo later credited Blood In, Blood Out with bringing him legitimate worldwide fame. His work in Heat reunited him with director Michael Mann, and Trejo recalled learning from Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, and Jon Voight while filming the crime drama.

Trejo first played Isador "Machete" Cortez in Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids series. The character also appeared in the spoof trailer for Grindhouse, directed by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, before becoming the lead in Rodriguez's Machete (2010) and Machete Kills (2013). Trejo has expressed interest in returning for a third film, Machete Kills in Space.

Rodriguez is Trejo's second cousin, although the two did not realize they were related until they worked together on Desperado. Their collaboration also included From Dusk till Dawn, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Predators, and the Bad Ass films.

Other notable credits include Desperado, Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, Anaconda, Con Air, The Devil's Rejects, Rob Zombie's Halloween, and Predators. His television work includes recurring roles on King of the Hill and Sons of Anarchy, as well as appearances on Breaking Bad, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Book of Boba Fett.

Trejo expanded into film production with projects including Animal Factory, Ambition, Bad Asses, and Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo. He has also lent his voice and likeness to films, television programs, and video games, including the Call of Duty series and Far Cry 6.

He opened a Los Angeles restaurant business beginning with Trejo's Tacos, followed by Trejo's Cantina, Trejo's Coffee and Donuts, and Trejo's Donuts. His culinary work includes Trejo's Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A. (2020) and Trejo's Cantina: Cocktails, Snacks & Amazing Non-Alcoholic Drinks from the Heart of Hollywood (2023).

In 2021, he published the memoir Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood with Donal Logue. The book reached number four on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. Los Angeles has proclaimed January 31 as Danny Trejo Day in recognition of his community service and entertainment career.