Lou Diamond Phillips (né Upchurch; born February 17, 1962) is a
Filipino-American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when
he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba
(1987). For the Academy Award-nominated Stand and Deliver (1988),
Phillips was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won an Independent
Spirit Award.Phillips made his Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of
The King and I, earning a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of
King Mongkut of Siam. Phillips' other notable films include Stand and
Deliver (1988), Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990), Courage Under
Fire (1996), The Big Hit (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), Che (2008),
and The 33 (2015). In the television series Longmire, he played a main
character named Henry Standing Bear.Phillips was born February 17,
1962, at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines, the son of
Lucita Umayam Arañas and Gerald Amon Upchurch (1935â€"1963), a Marine
KC-130 crew chief. His mother, a native of Candelaria, Zambales, is
Filipina with some Spanish ancestry and his father was an American of
Scots-Irish and partial Native American descent.Phillips was named
after the US Marine Leland "Lou" Diamond. After his father died, he
took his stepfather's surname, Phillips, as his own.
Filipino-American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when
he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba
(1987). For the Academy Award-nominated Stand and Deliver (1988),
Phillips was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won an Independent
Spirit Award.Phillips made his Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of
The King and I, earning a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of
King Mongkut of Siam. Phillips' other notable films include Stand and
Deliver (1988), Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990), Courage Under
Fire (1996), The Big Hit (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), Che (2008),
and The 33 (2015). In the television series Longmire, he played a main
character named Henry Standing Bear.Phillips was born February 17,
1962, at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines, the son of
Lucita Umayam Arañas and Gerald Amon Upchurch (1935â€"1963), a Marine
KC-130 crew chief. His mother, a native of Candelaria, Zambales, is
Filipina with some Spanish ancestry and his father was an American of
Scots-Irish and partial Native American descent.Phillips was named
after the US Marine Leland "Lou" Diamond. After his father died, he
took his stepfather's surname, Phillips, as his own.
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