Robert Adame Beltran (born November 19, 1953) is an American actor, known for his role as Commander Chakotay on the 1990s television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He is also known for stage acting in California, and for playing Raoul Mendoza in the 1982

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...

film ''

Eating Raoul ''Eating Raoul'' is a 1982 American black comedy film written, directed by and starring Paul Bartel with Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, and Susan Saiger. It is about a prudish married couple (Bartel and Woronov) who r ...

''.

Early life

Beltran was born in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, the son of Aurelia and Luis Beltran Perez, who were immigrants from Mexico. Beltran attended

East Bakersfield High School East Bakersfield High School is a 9-12 high school located in Bakersfield, CA. Built in 1938, EBHS, commonly called "East" or "EB", is the second oldest high school in Bakersfield after Bakersfield High School. Athletics EBHS sports teams are c ...

and

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

. He has two sisters and seven brothers, including

Latin Jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

musician Louie Cruz Beltran.

Career

Beltran graduated from

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

with a degree in Theater Arts and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

to begin his acting career. He had his first film role in '' Zoot Suit'' in 1981, but his breakthrough came in 1982 when he played the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

in the independently produced dark comedy ''

''. Beltran had a supporting role as

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. After serving in the United States Air Force, Norris won many martial arts championshi ...

' partner Trooper Kayo Ramos in the 1983 film '' Lone Wolf McQuade''. He then starred in the 1984 TV movie ''

The Mystic Warrior ''The Mystic Warrior'' is a 1984 American TV movie about a band of Sioux and the efforts of one man to save his people from destruction through the use of mysterious powers handed down by ancestors. The movie was originally a nine-hour mini-seri ...

'' as Native American brave Ahbleza, and as Hector in 1984's ''

Night of the Comet ''Night of the Comet'' is a 1984 American science fiction comedy horror film written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. It stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Robert Beltran, and Kelli Maroney as survivors of a comet that has turned most people into ei ...

''. He played Commander Chakotay, the Native American first officer of the starship ''Voyager'', in the science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager'' from 1995 to 2001. During this time, he won the Nosotros Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Series in 1997. He was also nominated in 1996 for the

NCLR UnidosUS, formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR) (La Raza), is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform, a path to citizens ...

Bravo Award for Outstanding Television Series Actor in a Crossover Role, and the

ALMA Award The American Latino Media Arts Award or ALMA Award, formerly known as Latin Oscars Award, is an award highlighting the best American Latino contributions to music, television, and film. The awards promote fair and accurate portrayals of Latino ...

for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Television Series in a Crossover Role in 1998 and 1999. Beltran founded and co-directed the East LA Classic Theater Group. He is also a member of the Classical Theater Lab, an ensemble of professional actors who co-produced his production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in 1997, which he directed and starred in. Beltran has collaborated with amateur actors in performing plays and scenes of plays of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. He produced and starred in a Los Angeles production of "The Big Knife" by

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

, a play which explores the Hollywood environment under the big studio system of the 1940s. In May 2009, Beltran played the dual roles of Don Fermin and Older Eusebio in the American Conservatory Theaters staging of José Rivera's ''Boleros for the Disenchanted''. He had the recurring role of Jerry Flute in Seasons 3 and 4 of HBO's ''

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tri ...

''.

Recordings

''Latino Poetry'' Excerpts from a live performance by Beltran (recorded at the Museum of Latin American Art in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, April 2002)

Theater

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Notable awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beltran, Robert 1953 births American male film actors American male actors of Mexican descent American male television actors Bakersfield College alumni California State University, Fresno alumni Hispanic and Latino American male actors Living people Male actors from Bakersfield, California