Before Hollywood, Danny Trejo Was Behind Bars
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, before Danny Trejo became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, known for films like Machete and Heat, he spent years in prison battling addiction and violence. Speaking at the Crossroads Recovery Center's 60th Anniversary Breakfast event in Phoenix, AZ., Trejo shares how sobriety, recovery, faith, and helping others transformed his life and unexpectedly led him from prison cells to movie sets.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. |
| 0:19.0 | Danny Trejo's story is a remarkable journey from a troubled youth and 11 years in and out |
| 0:24.5 | of California prisons, including San Quentin, to become a beloved Hollywood actor. |
| 0:30.5 | Known for his tough, tattooed look, he's appeared in movies such as Desperado, |
| 0:35.1 | machete, from dusk till dawn, Spy Kids, and Heat, always ensuring |
| 0:39.9 | his villainous characters face consequences. Here's Danny Trejo sharing his story at an Alcoholics |
| 0:46.9 | Anonymous meeting. I came out of prison in 1969. I had a year clean coming out. I got clean in Solidad State prison. |
| 0:57.0 | I was in the hole. Me, Ray Pacheco, Henry Kiada, we were involved in a very serious prison riot. |
| 1:07.0 | And some people got hurt really bad and inside in a riot is a gas chamber offense |
| 1:15.6 | and Ray Pacheco socked a free person, that's a gas chamber offense. |
| 1:22.6 | Henry Kihala ruptured the coach. That's definitely a gas chamber offense. And it was alleged that I threw a rock and hit Lieutenant Gibbons in the head. That's definitely a gas chamber fence. So, uh, |
| 1:41.3 | 19609, it's 1968, Cinco de Mayo. |
| 1:45.0 | Cinco de Mayo, everybody thinks Cinco de Mayo means 5th of May. |
| 1:51.0 | But if you're like a real Mexican, I mean from the heart, you know, |
| 1:56.0 | Cinco de Mayo means get bail money. |
| 2:00.0 | 99% of the Emil de Mayo means get bail money. |
| 2:08.6 | 99% of the Mexicans do not even know what Cinco de Mayo is celebrating. You know what I mean? |
| 2:09.6 | Just like, let's get drunk. |
| 2:11.6 | Tequila was invented for Cinco de Mayo, okay? |
| 2:16.6 | Because you can go to jail and not even know why. |
... |
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