Gothic Theatre
Paul Rodriguez
Having landed the coveted role of outspoken fight physician, Ferdie Pacheco, in Columbia Pictures big budget biopic, “Ali,” for director Michael Mann and Producer Jon Peters, Paul Rodriguez has just completed shooting his eighth movie in less then a year. “Ali” stars Will Smith, Ron Silver, Jaime Fox and John Voight. Mahamad Ali is scheduled for a Decemebr 7th release. Paul can currently be seen in Samuel Goldwyn’s “Tortilla Soup,” with Hector Elizondo; this stretch of movie roles began last year with New Line Cinema’s “The Price of Glory,” starring Jimmy Smits; “Mambo Cafe,” starring Danny Aiello; “G-men,” directed by Christopher Coppola; Paromounts “Crocodile Dundee in LA,” with Paul Hogan; “The Shipment,” with Mathew Modine; and Jerry Zucker’s “Rat Race,” with Whoopi Goldberg and Cuba Gooding Jr. In addition, Paul found time to guest star in several episodes of Showtime’s original series, “Resurrection Boulevard,” and to sign a deal with Showtime to star in and executive produce his own weekly series based on Paul’s real life role as one of the owners of the hot LA salsa club, "The Conga Room.
Through his production company, Payaso Entertainment, Paul recently completed shooting The Latin version of the Kings Of Comedy “Paul Rodriguez and The Crown Royal Comedy,” a theatrical release in which he stars, based on his 38 city tour. The film was shot in El Paso, Texas with veteran host, Cheech Marin and comedy performances by George Lopez, Alex Reymundo, Joey Medina, and Marilyn Martinez. as well as guest appearances by Charro and spin master Nayib Estefan.
Paul Rodriguez’ career has spanned more than two decades. His first big break came while performing comedy warm-up for Norman Lear’s “Gloria.” Lear subsequently wrote and developed a weekly series for Paul, “a.k.a. Pablo.” Paul was honored by being enshrined at the Smithsonian as the star of the first television show about a Mexican American Family broadcast on mainstream American television. He went on to star in two other series, “Trial and Error,” and “Grand Slam” for CBS.
Paul segued nicely from television to motion pictures, making his feature film debut in Universal Pictures’ comedy, “D.C. Cab.” Paul has had co-starring roles in Orion Pictures’ “Miracles,” Paramount’s “The Whoopie Boys,” Columbia Pictures’ “Quicksilver,” and Universal’s “Born In East L.A.”, as well as “Made in America.” Paul has starred in, or been featured in, more than 29 films and countless television specials and shows. He starred in six comedy specials for HBO, including “Loco Slam,” and “Live in San Quentin,” the most recent being “Idiots and Armadillos,” which he also wrote and executive-produced. Paul has served as host for “The Alma Awards” on ABC and “The Latino Laugh Festival” for Showtime, as well as his own television creations — four specials for the Fox Broadcasting Company (including “Back to School,” and “Behind Bars”).
For four years (1990/94) Paul hosted “El Show de Paul Rodriguez,” an entertainment talk show for the Spanish-language Univision Network. The show reached an international audience throughout the United States and 17 countries in Central and South America. Paul’s directorial debut came in 1994 with the film “A Million to Juan,” a family comedy in which he also wrote and starred.
Paul remains strongly rooted in the Latino community, working with civic and educational groups. His main focus has been the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund (NHSF). In addition, Paul contributes to such charitable efforts as “Comic Relief” having appeared on the HBO program every year since its inception. Paul hosts his own annual celebrity Golf Tournament, with 100% of the proceeds going to the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
