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In February 2020, 270 Latin X showrunners, creators and TV and feature writers wrote an open letter to Hollywood calling for a systemic change in the entertainment industry.

Latino and Hispanic artists have been part of the entertainment industry since silent film.

Tonight, we meet an author and educator who will discuss how these artists impacted Hollywood from the beginning.

I'm so happy you're joining us.

From Los Angeles.

This is KLCS PBS.

Welcome to everybody.

With Angela Williamson and innovation, Arts, education and public affairs program.

Everybody with Angela Williamson is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

Luis Reyes is our guest.

Thank you so much for being here.

Well, thank you very much.

I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share with you and your audience.

Well, and I think our audience needs to know what we're going to talk about today, because I think it's really important.

But before we get into your book, Viva Hollywood, I want the audience to get to know who you are because there's a reason why you became this historian.

So tell us a little bit about you.

Well, I grew up in New York City, in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

When it wasn't quite so fashionable, it was still, borderline ghetto.

Okay.

Barrio.

Yes.

And, my parents are Puerto Rican and Dominican, and, I grew up in a very mixed neighborhood.

I mean, we had the Jewish synagogue right behind my house.

I grew up with Italian kids and Irish kids.

so we had a very mixed neighborhood.

Anyway, the reason that, since as a kid, I was a kid, I love movies, and I'm a baby boomer.

So on top of movies, we had television.

Yes, it was the early years of television.

So I grew up watching all the television programs.

all of my favorite shows.

all of the Western TV shows, variety shows.

Everything.

And also, they started showing movies.

They had the Million Dollar Movie where they'd show the same movie 5 or 6 times a week, you know?

So if you missed it on one day, you could watch it on the next.

then they had, Saturday night at the movies where they showed movies on Saturday night, and they were generally, movies that were maybe a few years old, not, you know, as opposed to the Million Dollar movie that showed movies from the 30s and 40s.

You know, sort of movies like King Kong, Citizen Kane, those kinds of films.

And at the same time we had the neighborhood movie theaters.

Okay.

So I got to see movies at my neighborhood movie house, and I was always movies at that time in the movies.

They took you out of your own world, okay?

They transported you into another life.

they also taught you about the world.

And, you know, from a young child's point of view, because we didn't grasp everything that goes in the movie.

But, you know, I got to travel to Hawaii with John Wayne and Donovan's Reef.

I got to learn about the Hercules and all of the mythology with all of these, Hercules movies that were popular.

Then I got a little bit of religion watching, you know, movies like King of Kings and The Robe.

so the whole world was open to you, and also living in New York City.

The world is there, you know, so you had everything at your fingertips if you wanted it, and I did, to get to the book.

The reason I wrote the book is that growing up, there were a few Latino faces on television.

No one was documenting the history of Latinos in the film industry.

And I came out to college, University of the Pacific.

And at that time, it was the only bilingual college in the United States.

Half the student body was from Latin America, and the other half was, North Americans, who wanted to learn about Latin America.

And also the faculty was, Latin Americans, and the other half was North Americans who spoke Spanish, who had been diplomats or had worked for major corporations overseas.

So it was, a real, opportunity to learn, okay, not only, about myself, but about other cultures.

Okay.

Because I'd never been around Venezuelans or I'm in New York.

All was Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, for the most part, Cubans.

So I saw the vastness of what Latin America.

And it was a thing called, inter Americanism, which was Latin America, North America, the blending of the two cultures and learning about each other.

I see.

the only thing we didn't count on was that with immigration and with the wars in, in Latin America and particularly in Central America, Latin America came to the United States with refugees, with immigration.

So my Spanish speaking abilities and my knowledge of both cultures helped me.

Okay.

So I entered the film industry because that's what I wanted to do since I was a kid, is getting into the film industry in some shape or form.

And I was able to get into public relations, and I joined an organization called No Sultanas.

I'm so glad you mentioned them, because that was actually one of my questions too.

And nosotros means We the People and was an organization started by Ricardo Montalban, the actor, best known today as the grandfather in the Spy Kids movie or as con in the Star Trek movies.

But he had a long career before that.

He wanted to improve the image of Latinos in films, and also to help, improve the opportunities for Latino performers in films, because there was a lot of, discrimination.

there was a lot of stereotyping.

And, there were limited opportunities within the scope of, performance.

And when he started this, correct.

My memory because I'm trying to go back to the book, it was like the late 60s is when he started this.

Correct.

Organization.

So in reading your book, I know, you know, Latinos and Hispanics have been part of this industry since the silent film.

Er, so it took all the way until the late 60s so that he can organize to get better roles.

Or am I understanding what the role was?

Okay.

Latinos were involved in the film industry from its inception.

Okay, yes.

But there were opportunities, but they were limited.

Okay.

Very.

Okay.

but there were lots of opportunities, but they were limited in terms of the roles, what happened was the civil rights movement, the women's movement, okay.

Where people started, beginning to display and and ask and fight for the rights that they had as American citizens.

Okay.

And Ricardo used to say, I don't mind if I don't get the role based on my talent.

That's fine.

If, he would say of, Eli Wallach, who played a Mexican bandit in The Magnificent Seven, he said, If Eli Wallach can play a better Mexican bandit than me, that's fine based on our talent, he says.

But don't discount me because my name is Montalban.

He started this group that became very vocal.

Yes.

Okay.

To help improve the opportunities for Latinos and also create our own, theater workshops, training.

But unfortunately for a while there, he got blacklisted because, people don't like to be told what to do, especially people in power, you know?

So he went through a dry spell.

All of a sudden he wasn't getting any roles.

And that's, you know, the price you pay for your beliefs.

And.

Yeah.

And so at that point, that was your first job.

So you're coming in there, what, mid 70s.

Correct.

Okay.

And so at that point they had already been established for.

Yes.

Actually I heard about them when I was in high school in New York.

Really.

Okay.

So it was always on my mind to come out and join the group.

Okay.

So I was very fortunate.

And then what happened was that Latinos didn't work in a vacuum in Hollywood.

We all worked together.

I mean, Ricardo worked with John Wayne, Esther Williams, everybody worked with everybody.

Latinos played Latinos, but they also played Native Americans.

They played Arabs.

They played within the scope.

We were limited.

But also there was opportunities there as well.

Okay, with that in mind, I began to meet a lot of the people that I admired in the movies.

I mean, I met John Wayne, I met Robert Stack, I met and Miller, all of these classic actors that were around.

I know you, you.

Know, so now your TV or your film is coming to life because now you are part of this organization to help, you know, make these roles and.

People helped and people helped each other, then we weren't so divided.

I mean, when Ricardo had his first fundraiser.

Yes.

Who stepped up to the plate?

Frank Sinatra, because he was Italian-American and he understood discrimination.

He went through it at the beginning.

Okay.

So he understood.

I mean, Sammy Davis Junior, I mean, the Rat Pack, they all came to help, you know, as a fundraiser because they believed in the American way and they believed in the equal opportunity.

So you start off with this powerful organization that's changing Hollywood and you start off in public relations.

So my question is, you can tell us this before we go to our break.

I can't believe our first segment is almost done.

So how does Louise end up being your you're in the middle of change right now.

how do you end up turning that around so that you start to document this so the next generations can know how it was, how people paved the way for them?

The actors that I met, the performers, they were telling me their stories, okay.

And nobody was writing them down.

So.

And I came just at the right time when a lot of them were starting to die, you know, off.

So I said, we got to write these things down.

We have to document these things because they'll be lost.

You know, the photos, and then a lot of actors, for them, it was a job like you and I go to the office.

Yes.

For them, they went to the, you know, to the movie studio, to the dream factory.

Okay.

So when I would ask them about their career, sometimes they say, well, why are you interested in in my career, they said some people had higher artistic aspirations and other people just saw it as a job.

Okay, well, a job they did.

Well, it.

Very well, which we will talk about in detail when we come back from our break.

So that's a perfect way to segue.

We'll go into the break, come back and talk about some of these phenomenal, not only actors and actresses, but how they paved the way to change Hollywood.

So stay with us through the break and we'll be right back.

Come back to hear more from Louise.

There is a road laid out the first night here, but Amy seems cool.

You leading down to the river.

I am blind, but I need not see.

What do you think?

I know this.

Room is there for me.

If I'm really free, take me.

Down to the river and walk.

Welcome back.

Louise.

That was a powerful first segment.

I mean, it's always interesting to find out how a person started.

What was their motivation and and where they're going today.

And so we left off where you started to collect these stories, because at this point you become a historian of the experience and how Latinos and Hispanics have changed the entertainment industry.

But before we go on, I love for you to explain this because you talked about this in your introduction.

if you can describe, how Latin X, Latin American, Latino, Hispanic, Chicano, Latino, Latino, how that has changed the landscape of Hollywood over the years because you use these words interchangeably in this book, and I love for you to talk about that.

Wow.

I don't know if I'm the person because these terms terminology changes.

Yes.

Okay, okay.

Now people they don't like Latin x okay.

Now it's Latin a Latin.

Okay.

That's what I've heard.

I'm glad I.

Asked you because people go oh I don't want to be X out, you know.

Okay.

Oh no it's.

It's it's, it's it's people brand okay.

And it's not always conducive to what people, you know, see themselves as or identify as you.

Okay.

So, all this terminology, you know, sometimes it suits, writers and journalists, but it's all inclusive, and it's not always the case.

I mean, Latinos are very diverse.

Yeah.

Okay.

but we're part of the American, you know, of America.

Yeah.

We're probably the oldest people on this, on this continent, you know, is the Native American.

And that's part of the Latino experience.

Okay.

So it's very, very hard.

the way I put it is this way.

Yes.

growing up, I heard the Irish actor Richard Harris or Richard Burton.

He's Welsh.

Sean Connery, James Bond, he's Scottish.

But to me, they're all English actors.

But within Britain, they all know who they are.

But to us Americans, oh, they're all English, you know, or they're all Brits.

Yes.

Okay, so the same thing with Latinos.

Okay.

There's, on the East Coast, it's Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.

Okay.

Cubans, out here, everybody is considered Mexican, even though that's not the case.

Okay.

So people generally generalize.

So the same thing happens with Latin Latin x.

You know, I used to be Hispanic, but then people didn't feel comfortable with Hispanic because then you're not including the Native American part of the Hispanic experience or the African American.

Okay.

In the early days, you used to be polite cause somebody spat, oh, you're Spanish, you know?

Excuse me, I'm not from Spain.

Yeah, you know, so it's all it changes, okay?

And it depends on what's convenient at the time, what's political or what's not political.

so it's all of this terminology, but American Latino is really important because, we're Americans.

Yeah.

Okay.

Whether you came as an immigrant or we're Americans, we've been here for generations.

Okay.

Actually, there's a whole history to the, you know, God, we were here before the Mayflower.

Okay, so all of those things come together, to create, all of this terminology and then political, you know, how do you put all these groups in an umbrella group?

And I love I love that explanation because I think it's really important, not only in in how we document, everyone who contributed to this entertainment industry, but also to, of how we, bond together as cultures, because in we look at one one culture as a whole body of people, then sometimes we don't.

We miss what their impact is.

That's what that's why I thought it was important for you to talk about that.

And it's all part of the the Hollywood experience.

The American experience.

Yeah.

I mean, you know, it's not only Latino, but it's also Asian American.

Okay.

I mean, the famous actress, Chinese-American actress Anna may Wong.

Okay.

The gentleman who created some of the best American comedies, Billy Wilder, some, like it hot.

Yes.

Okay.

He was a German emigre, and he mastered the English language.

And he made the best American comedies of his day.

Another Italian immigrant was Frank Capra, okay, who was known for his populist films.

So it's all part of the Latino experience, is all part of the American part of the whole experience of of Hollywood and all the people that contributed to it and are still contributing to it today.

And, you know, what I really liked is how you included, the first Asian-American actress in this book because it tells the story of other actors and actresses as well.

And the one I want to I want to talk about is that first, first major Hispanic star, Antonio Moreno.

Correct.

He was actually from Spain.

He came here as a young boy.

Okay.

He made his way here from Spain, and he started in the silent films.

Yes.

And, he became a leading man in silent films.

Okay.

He had a bit of an accent, but in silent films, it didn't matter.

Didn't matter?

You look.

And he was a hero in films.

And, he had a great career.

I mean, he started with D.W. Griffith in New York, made his way out here to California when the industry settled here.

And, he had a great career into his, elderly, age because he became he made the train.

He survived the transition from silent films to sound.

And he became mechanic director.

And, today he's best known probably as the professor in a film called The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Okay.

And he was also the Mexican Vaccaro that helped John Wayne find Chief Scar in the classic movie The Searchers.

Well, and I think it's really interesting because, we'll transition a little bit, but you talked about the silent era, and you talked about the transition to what we call as educators, the talkies.

And, just how many, actors did we lose that had a great following in that silent film that it was hard for them to transition to.

when we had talkies.

Correct?

There were many, but Latinos seemed to do well in the talkies.

I mean, in the silent era, we had Dolores del Rio, who's considered one of the most beautiful women ever to grace films.

Yes.

Okay.

And she started in silence and she made the transition, to sound films.

We had Ramon Navarro, the film that he did helped to estab publish MGM Studios as the number one studio in Hollywood.

He did, a film called Ben-Hur.

Okay.

And he played the title role.

In that movie.

Latinos seem to do well in From Silence, going from silence to sound, at least at the beginning.

Okay.

You know, but then, tastes changed with the depression coming in.

People seemed to want to see more American stars or people that they didn't consider foreign.

So that's when you had the rise of people like James Cagney.

other actors that were Tyrone Power, actors that were no more American, but there was always room for actors that were, you know, maybe a little different.

You know, Ma, Marlene Dietrich was okay, you know, so there was there was Latinos seem to do fine.

And then Latinos within their sphere, like I said, could play Native Americans could play, Arabs could.

They had a little bit of a Frenchman.

So they had a little bit of a fear of a larger range.

Absolutely.

I love how you're talking about the larger range, because I want to move us a little bit further down the line, because I think at some point, we always talk about this industry in the stereotypes.

But, my question to you is when you started gathering all this information in the mid 70s, was there one actor that you knew you wanted to find their story and, and capture that because they've made such a big change, they maybe didn't do the traditional roles that Hollywood was trying to give them.

The best one, I think would have been, that I got to meet was Gilbert Roland.

Okay.

This gentleman right here, very handsome, very okay.

He started out in the silence as a young man, 21 years old, in the late silence.

Okay, okay.

So so towards the end of that.

Era, right?

He always played the sophisticated guy, handsome guy with dignity.

He was born in Mexico, but he grew up here in the United States, and he started with Clark Gable, and Clark Gable was an extra.

And Gary Cooper, you know, well known stars at the time.

So he was able to make that transition.

And he was a fighter, you know, for not only for, Latino causes, but just humanistic, causes.

I mean, he stood up for a Ramon Navarro who was, a gay actor.

Okay.

He stood up for him, when a director was berating him.

And it was a homophobic director who was giving him a hard time.

And, Gilbert Roland stood up and say, hey, you give this man respect.

If it wasn't for him, the studio wouldn't be here and you wouldn't have a job.

And I like that you included that story in there.

And I think that's really important, too.

believe it or not, our time is almost done.

But I don't want our time to end without me asking you with all of your research.

What do you think is the most impactful movie that you've researched and captured in this book?

There's several.

Oh, okay.

You take the floor.

Luis Valdez, the director writer of Zoot Suit.

Yes.

La Bamba.

Gregory Nava did a film called My Family and perhaps is best known for Sally now.

He directed okay, Real Women Have Curves, that was written by Josephine Lopez, and Stand and Deliver, which, according to Edward James Olmos, is probably the most seen and watched film in America because it's used as curriculum in schools.

So kids get to watch the movie in, in, middle school and in high school.

So you have several generations of people who have seen and grown up with that film.

they've seen it on video, or there are people saw when it first came out, and there are people who see it on video and used in schools.

So, yeah, those movies have been very, very impactful.

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, also starring Edward James Olmos.

I mean, Selena launched the career of the a true female superstar, which is Jennifer Lopez.

She definitely is.

She is a true superstar.

And it just so happens that probably some of the most beautiful, intelligent and enterprising women in the world today are Latinas.

You know, you're talking about Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz.

Eva Longoria.

Eva Longoria, who just directed a new movie called, Flaming Hot, which is about the janitor who invented the Fritos.

And I cannot wait to see that movie.

I mean, that's right in my backyard.

Wow.

Well, we've had such an incredible conversation, and you will definitely need to come back because we we need to talk about so much more.

But before we end our conversation today, with this book, what do you want its mission to be as as we move forward and we make these changes in Hollywood.

I think you need to know where you've been before.

You move ahead.

Sometimes it's okay to move ahead and not know what you've been doing sometimes, but the the mission is really to enlighten people, because when I first wrote the book, I said, I'm writing a book about Latinos in Hollywood.

Oh, it must be a very small book, you know, read it.

It's not a small book.

And I think it could have been even this is probably you editing it down, because it could be a lot larger than.

It's only films.

Yeah.

Films.

Yes.

And it highlights, you know, people.

But no, there's much more to the story.

Yeah, there is much more.

And that's that's a perfect way to end.

There's much more to the story.

So thank you so much for your time.

And you promised to come back, right?

Absolutely.

You got it.

Thank you.

And thank you for joining us on everybody with Angela Williamson.

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