Luis Valdez was born in Delano, California, to migrant farm worker parents from Mexico, Armeda and Francisco Luis Valdez.
10 Facts About Luis Valdez
2.
The second of 10 children in his family, Luis Valdez began to work the fields at the age of 6.
3.
In high school, Luis Valdez was part of the Speech and Drama department and acted in several plays.
4.
In 1965, Luis Valdez returned to Delano, where he enlisted in Cesar Chavez's mission to organize farm workers into a comprehensive union.
5.
Luis Valdez brought together farm workers and students to form El Teatro Campesino, a farm worker's theater troupe.
6.
Luis Valdez believed that humor was a major asset to his plays in El Teatro Campesino as it was a tool to lift the morale of strikers.
7.
In 1967, Luis Valdez established a Chicano cultural center in Del Rey, California.
8.
Luis Valdez moved the theater a final time in 1971, to San Juan Bautista, south of San Francisco.
9.
Luis Valdez is credited with assisting in the development of a university program that prepares students in the entertainment industry: filmmaking, writing, sound, cinematography, and the like.
10.
Luis Valdez was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2015.