Lou Diamond Phillips

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Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips, August 2007
Born	February 17, 1962 (1962-02-17) (age 47) Subic Bay Naval Station, Philippines
Occupation	Actor, film director, television director
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Julie Cypher (1987–1990) Kelly Phillips (1994–2007) Yvonne Marie Boismier (2007–present)

Lou Diamond Phillips (born Lou Diamond Upchurch; February 17, 1962) is a Filipino American film, television, and stage actor. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I.

Outside of acting, he has become notable for finishing in the top 3% of the field in the 2009 World Series of Poker World Championships No Limit Texas hold 'em main event.

Early life

Phillips was born as Lou Diamond Upchurch at the Subic Bay US Naval Station in Zambales, Philippines, the son of Lucita Aranas and Gerald Upchurch, a United States naval officer.^[1][2] He has diverse ethnic roots, with a father who was an American of Scots-Irish and one-quarter Cherokee descent, and his mother, a native of Candelaria, is a Filipina of Spanish, Chinese and Japanese descent.^[3][4][2] Phillips was named after Marine legend Lou Diamond^[5] and adopted the surname "Phillips" from his stepfather.

He was raised in Texas, where he attended Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi. He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Drama.

Career

The first low-budget film he starred in was called Trespasses. Phillips' big break came with the starring role in 1987's La Bamba, in which he played early rocker Ritchie Valens. Prior to his cinematic breakthrough, he starred in the March 13, 1987 Miami Vice episode "Red Tape", portraying fictional detective Bobby Diaz.

In 1988, Phillips co-starred with Edward James Olmos in the inner-city high school drama, Stand and Deliver, in a role for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture". He plays Angel Guzman, a wannabe cholo gangster who is inspired by his math teacher, Jaime Escalante, to excel at calculus. As he works to master the subject, he develops a friendship with his teacher. Stand and Deliver was filmed before La Bamba, but it was released a year later. In 1988 and 1990, Phillips co-starred with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland in the cowboy movies Young Guns and Young Guns II, in which he plays Jose Chavez y Chavez, a historical Old West outlaw.

In 1996, Phillips made his Broadway debut as the King in Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's The King and I. Phillips won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance.^[6]

In 1998 he starred as Cisco, the counterpart of the main character Melvin Smiley (played by Mark Wahlberg, launching his career) in the comedy-action movie The Big Hit.

On September 11, 2007, Phillips joined the touring troup for Lerner and Loewe's Camelot in the role of King Arthur.^[7] He also played a role in the first season of the TV series 24 as secret government agent Mark DeSalvo, opposite former Young Guns star Kiefer Sutherland (who played the lead role of Jack Bauer).

Phillips plays the recurring role of FBI agent Ian Edgerton in the television series Numb3rs. Edgerton is an FBI tracker and sniper who works as a sniper instructor at Quantico FBI Academy when he is not working a case in the field.

Phillips won the second season of the NBC reality series I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! over pro-wrestler Torrie Wilson.

Phillips has been cast as Colonel Telford in the Stargate Universe television series. Phillip's role in the series has been confirmed as a recurring character, the would-be commander of the Destiny exhibition who is left behind and works from Earth to bring the crew home.

In June 2009, Phillips started writing his autobiography, titled A Diamond Phillips in the Rough: The Life and Times of Lou Diamond Phillips. The book is slated for an early 2010 release by Hyperion Books and will be co-written with veteran celebrity biographer Michael Lackner.

Phillips has been a regular poker player since college.^[8] In May 2009, Phillips placed 31st of 403 entrants in the 2009 California State Poker Championship Limit Texas hold 'em.^[9] He placed in the money at the $10,000 July 2009 World Series of Poker World Championship No Limit main event.^[10] On July 12, he was eliminated as the original field of 6,494 was trimmed from 407 to 185. He entered the day in 114th place among the 407 and was eliminated on the final hand of the day finishing in 186th place and earning $36,626.^[11][12]

Personal life

During the making of Trespasses, he met Julie Cypher, an assistant director. They married on September 17, 1987. They divorced on August 5, 1990; Cypher left him to start a relationship with rocker Melissa Etheridge.

He met Jennifer Tilly, to whom he was briefly engaged, although the two never married. He later married model and TV extra Kelly Phillips; they had two daughters: Grace Moorea and Isabella Patricia (twins born on October 5, 1997). They separated in 2004 and their divorce was finalized in July 2007.

He married model Yvonne Marie Boismier less than a month later; their daughter, Indigo Sanara, was born in October 2007.

Phillips plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games.^{[citation needed]} Phillips took his poker game to the next level in 2009 when he entered the World Series of Poker $10,000 Main Event and was one of the survivors out of more than 6,000 players to make it to the money, finishing 186th.^[13]

Arrest

On August 11, 2006, he was arrested for alleged domestic violence at his Los Angeles home following a dispute with his future wife, model and makeup artist Katie Searing.^[14] In December 2006, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of domestic battery, and was sentenced to three years' probation. He also was ordered to undergo one year of domestic violence counseling and to serve 200 hours of community service.^[15]

Activism

Phillips speaking at the Filipino American Library Spirit Awards and Dinner GALA in Los Angeles in October 2006.

Phillips has been an outspoken advocate of HR 4574,^[16] the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2006, legislation which would honor the service of Filipino World War II veterans by granting them the same benefits available to other U.S. World War II veterans.

Awards and achievements

• 1989 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male (Stand and Deliver, 1988)
• 1989 Golden Globe Award nominee for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Stand and Deliver, 1988)
• 1989 Western Heritage Award Bronze Wrangler Theatrical Motion Picture (Young Guns, 1988). Shared with John Fusco (producer), Christopher Cain (producer), Charlie Sheen (actor), Emilio Estevez (actor), Kiefer Sutherland (actor)
• 1993 Oxfam America award for his dedication toward ending world hunger
• 1994 Houston International Film Festival Gold award for Best Theatrical Feature Film for Ultimate Revenge
• 1996 Tony Award nominee for Best Actor on Broadway (The King And I)
• 1996 Theatre World Award: The King and I
• 1996 New York Outer Critics Circle: Outstanding Broadway Debut Award of an Actor, The King & I
• 1997 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Supporting Actor - Adventure/Drama (Courage Under Fire, 1996)
• 1997 Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best Supporting Actor (Courage Under Fire, 1996)
• 2001 Filipinas magazine Achievement award for Entertainment
• 2003 Cinemanila Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (Philippines)
• 2005 Asia Pacific Islander Heritage Award for Excellence in Entertainment and Arts
• 2009 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! King of the Jungle

Filmography

• Interface (1984)
• Trespasses (1986)
• La Bamba (1987)
• The Three Kings (television) (1987)
• Miami Vice (Season 3: Ep.19 \"Red Tape\") (television) (1987)
• Dakota (1988)
• Stand and Deliver (1988)
• Young Guns (1988)
• Disorganized Crime (1989)
• Renegades (1989)
• Young Guns II (1990)
• A Show of Force (1990)
• The First Power (1990)
• Harley (1990)
• The Dark Wind (1991)
• Ambition (1991)
• Sesame Street (1991) Monster in the Mirror Celebrity version
• Avenue Z Afternoon (1991) Television series
• Shadow of the Wolf (1992)
• Extreme Justice (1993)
• Wind in the Wire (1993)
• Dangerous Touch (1994)
• Sioux City (1994)
• Boulevard (1994)
• Teresa's Tattoo (1994)
• Override (television) (1994)
• The Wharf Rat (television) (1995)
• Teresa's Tattoo (1995)
• Undertow (1996)
• Courage Under Fire (1996)
• The Big Hit (1998)
• Another Day in Paradise (1998)
• Spin City (television) (1998) (Episode: \"An Officer and a Gentleman\")
• Brokedown Palace (1999)
• Orion Scope: The Grip of Christ (television) (1999)
• Bats (1999)
• In a Class of His Own (television) (1999)
• Picking Up the Pieces (2000)
• A Better Way to Die (2000)
• Supernova (2000)
• Route 666 (2001)
• Knight Club (2001)
• Wolf Lake (2001) TV Series
• Absolon (2001)
• 24 (2002) TV series - special guest star as a warden at a government top secret underground prison, alongside Kiefer Sutherland.
• Lone Hero (2002)
• Stark Raving Mad (2002)
• Malevolent (2002)
• George Lopez Show (2003)
• Hollywood Homicide (2003)
• Red Water (television) (2003)
• K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments (television) (2003) guest star as robber on third episode
• Gone But Not Forgotten (television) (2004)
• The Trail to Hope Rose (television) (2004)
• Murder at the Presidio (television) (2005)
• Jack & Bobby (television) (2005)
• Alien Express (television) (2005)
• The Triangle (television) (2005) Mini-series on Sci-fi channel, inspired by paranormal events in the Bermuda Triangle
• Striking Range (2006) initially titled Bloodlines
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (television) (2006) as Victor Paul Gitano (Episode: "Fault")
• Numb3rs (television) (2005-Present) Recurring role of Agent Ian Edgerton
• AquaMan (2006) Un-Aired Pilot
• El Cortez (film) (2007)
• Fingerprints (2007)
• Supernatural role of Bichon Frise (2007)
• Psych (television) (2007)
• Termination Point (television) (2007)
• Camelot (2007 - 2008)
• The Word of Promise (dramatization of the New Testament) (2007) Spoken Voice Role as The Apostle Mark
• Che: Part Two (2008) Mario Monje
• Never Forget (2008)
• Death Toll (2008)
• Lone Rider (2008)
• The Beast (Television) (2009) Patrick Swayze
• Love Takes Wing (2009) Ray Russell
• Angel and the Badman (film) (2009)
• Carny (2009)
• I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! (television) (2009)
• Stargate Universe (television) (2009) Colonel David Telford
• The Invited (Movie) (2010) Garrett (securing distribution)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lou Diamond Phillips

• Lou Diamond Phillips BLVD Online source since 1999 showcasing the life and career of the actor Lou Diamond Phillips
• Lou Diamond Phillips at the Internet Movie Database
• Lou Diamond Phillips at the Internet Broadway Database
• World Poker Tour Profile
• Hendon Mob poker tournament results

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