Danny Trejo is the most dangerous man in the history of cinema. He is the real deal. He is a face biter, neck stabber, and armed robber; he is a drug dealer, drunk, and survivor of the most dangerous prisons in America. He should be dead many times over. But God had other plans.
Miracles happen, the story of Danny Trejo is proof of that. As is the way with such biographies the story starts early. But Trejo’s up bringing was more fraught than most. His entire family were career criminals. Drug dealing from aged seven, he had his first shot of heroin age 12 [courtesy of his uncle]. Drugs, booze, and wild bouts of violence, car theft, holding up liquor stores when he was still a teen, it is little wonder he was in San Quentin by the time he was twenty. And what a horror show that was—fights, stabbings, death and insanity a constant shadow. It was here that Trejo saw his darkest hour and turned his life in a direction that was truly remarkable.
Many will have witnessed Trejo’s rise through the Hollywood talent grinder. He has starred in, and appeared in, literally hundreds of movies and television shows, until his battle-scarred countenance has become a cultural icon. Trejo is much more than a bad guys bad guy, he has become a true legend.
But Danny Trejo is much more than that. His time as a street gangster was abruptly curtailed when God reached out to him in the deepest seediest cell in San Quentin and showed him another path. A path of sobriety and recovery, and a dedication to helping others that few cinema goers, or gang-banging fight fans may know of. This part of his life—a world of meetings and talks and direct action to help substance abusers is by far the major part of his life. The business of recovery and helping others is a redemptive task he has dedicated more than fifty years to. Sure, he had other struggles too, family struggles, a battle against liver cancer, a double cerebral aneurism, and a painful battle against hepatitis that could have killed him. But Danny Trejo is one tough cat. He is still going at the hard to believe age of 77.
He also has seven dogs and a thriving taco business. Matter of fact there is a lot about the guy you don’t know yet. Crimezine recommends you rush out and buy Trejo, My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood. Do it now, you will be glad you did.
Crimezine 