This Week's Story
click here to play audioEdward Olmos becomes a dynamic Chicano actor in compelling movies.
This Week’s Story relives American history and the Bible through brief inspiring stories presented on mp3 audio recordings and text for reading.
Nothing much happening?
part one
Two friends meet, Alfredo and Valeria.
“What’s up? Do you know what Edward is doing?”
“Probably what I do. The usual. Nothing new.”
“I wonder. Try watching Edward Olmos. He sees more than you and me. When I ask him, ‘How are you doing?’ he doesn’t say, ‘The usual.’”
Edward was born in east L. A., and grew up in east L.A. He wanted out of poverty, and for sure he wanted to stay out of gangs, and off of drugs.
His eyes see and he uses them! They have become instincts drawing him to possibilities. His curiosity and determination are energizing. Since he was a little boy, he has not been without goals and challenges.
Edward’s father was an immigrant and his mother was a Mexican
American. His parents divorced when he was very young, and his mother raised him in a small home with two siblings. His neighbors were Hispanics, Native Americans, and immigrants. All were poor. All with any common sense knew work was a necessity and life in America was not a granted promise of food, shelter, and clothing that you liked. Where was opportunity for a better life?
Edward chose baseball. He hoped to become a professional baseball player and worked hard. He did, as a teenager win a youth baseball contest in Los Angeles. By age fifteen he wanted to become a singer.
The next step was singing lessons and self-taught piano lessons. He started a band called Eddie James and the Pacific Ocean, with himself as the lead singer. The band got a nightly job on Sunset Strip and by day he went to college. His ambition was strong.
Edward was afraid of public speaking. Never one to run from obstacles, he began taking drama classes. That was a gold discovery for him. His new goal was to become an actor. He was practical enough to get a job as a mover to support his wife and young children. Soon he was chosen for small parts in TV shows and movies.
Then came a starring role in Zoot Suit! It was a story that caught his fire and heart! He acted the first realistic Hispanic character seen on the American stage. The film adaptation portrayed the proud emerging Chicano spirit of 1940’s California. It presented young Mexican-Americans who were falsely convicted of a murder in Los Angeles in 1942. Edward starred as El Pachuco.
In the movie The Ballad of Gregory Cortez, Edward had the lead role. The film convincingly showed prejudice against Mexicans in the early 1900’s. Then the long-lasting TV series Miami Vice brought him fame.
With the film Stand and Deliver he captivated high school viewers, teachers, and the general public. They laughed, were inspired, and developed more hope that high school students living in poverty could gain challenging academic knowledge and life skills.
In this true story Edward becomes Jaime Escalente who as a teacher motivated and brilliantly taught eighteen students in East Los Angeles to pass the Advanced Placement test in calculus.
Next time we meet, This Week’s Story recording team will bring you part two “Much Happened!”
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