Paul Rodriguez is one of the best known Latino comedians with a career spanning nearly four decades in comedy clubs, film, and television. He is the first Mexican-American to have his own talk show titled El Show de Paul Rodriguez, the first national bilingual talk show and sketch-comedy show which began airing on Univision in 1990.
However, 2020 was a tough year for the Born in East L.A. actor for reasons that seemingly have nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s reportedly facing money troubles and is now suing his accountant of 30 years for mismanagement.
Last October the funnyman announced that he was taking a break from Hollywood to farm lemons in the San Joaquin Valley–he calls the city of Fresno home and owns an orchard in the region. Even while farming, the actor hopes to start a theatre company in the Valley, a sign Rodriguez is not ready to give up his very long acting career.
Rodriguez started as a comedian in the 1980s and rose to rule Latin comedy that decade and the next. He was ranked 74 on Comedy Central’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of all Time. After landing a few minor roles in a couple of movies and tv shows, Rodriguez starred his very own comedy series a.k.a. Pablo on ABC, becoming only the second Latino to do so (Freddy Prinze was the first). Many more TV projects would follow, including the TV series Fixing Paco, Univison’s El Show de Paul Rodriguez from 1990 through 1994, and MTV Tr3’s Mis Videos Locos.
He has appeared in films like Tortilla Soup and Rat Race and done voice over in the animated series King of the Hill and Dora the Explorer and animated film Beverly Hills Chihuahuas. Rodriguez also produced and starred on The Original Latin Kings of Comedy.
Rodriguez is a recipient of the National Council of La Raza Bravo Award and was nominated twice to the American Latino Media Arts or ALMA Awards.
More recently, he starred in Tom Musca’s comedy Chateau Vato about a working-class family who moves into a mansion after discovering the death of its wealthy owner. Mistaken identity and a rag to riches comedy of errors ensue. He also just wrapped the indie dark comedy The Immortalist by Vladislav Kozlov.
Currently he is executive producing the indie film American Superman. Also, expect to hear his voice in the upcoming animated live-action, computer-animated film Clifford the Big Red Dog and see him in the comedies Way Out of Bounds, Wanda’s Place, and Michael Jai White’s The Outlaw Johnny Black.
—Cesar Arredondo
Check out this video featuring Paul Rodriguez in The Original Latin Kings of Comedy:
