- Cheech Marin is a famous actor
- He was best known in comedy with his comedic partner Chong
- Learn more about what he's been up to lately
Everyone recognizes that lovable goofy mustache. What has he been up to since he first burst onto the screen in a cloud of smoke?
Richard "Cheech" Marin was born July 13th, 1946, in South Los Angeles, California to his humble Mexican American parents. His mother was a secretary and his father was surprisingly a police officer! His uncle gave him the nickname when he was only a few days old and came home from the hospital when he said the baby looked like a "chicharron" which is a fried pork rind. Ever since then, he has been dubbed "Cheech."
Cheech Marin's Hazy Rise To Fame
Cheech moved to Canada in the '60s where he met his friend and comedic partner, Canadian Tommy Chong. The two performed stand-up together, comedy albums and released low-budget films together. In 1978 they released their film Up in Smoke which skyrocketed their careers. It has since become a cult classic and even spurred 2 sequels, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, and Nice Dreams.
The pair disbanded for almost 10 years to pursue solo careers before reuniting again in 1992. Marin went on to have a wildly successful career and has been featured on countless hit shows and films like The Simpsons, The Golden Girls Spin-off The Golden Palace, the Machete trilogy, the Spy Kids trilogy, the Cars trilogy, and even won the first Celebrity Jeopardy!
Cheech Marin Lately
Since then, Cheech continues to tour and perform with his good pal Tommy and has also become a Chicano art collector! He has amassed an impressive collection and has collaborated with the city of Riverside, California to establish The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry. Cheech uses his fame to "call attention to what he saw as an under-appreciated and under-represented style of art."
Cheech has been married a few times, once in 1975 to Darlene Morley, with whom he had one child before the two divorced in 1984. His second marriage was to Patti Heid in 1986 with whom he had two children before divorcing, and his third and final marriage in 2009 was to Russian pianist Natasha Rubin.
5 Fun Cheech Facts!
- Marin is not just for adults, he also has two best-selling kids music albums!
- Cheech has his own exclusive brand of cannabis!
- Cheech did not actually smoke marijuana in any of the Cheech & Chong films! The same may not be able to be said about Tommy...
- He auditioned to sing for the great Frank Zappa!
- Sadly, Cheech and Chong are among the hundreds of artists who lost material in the destructive 2008 Universal fire.
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