Danny Trejo is an American film and television actor who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Danny Trejo is known for appearing in numerous films in which he often plays characters who are often hyper-masculine, villainous anti-heroes. He is known for starring in movies like “Desperado,” “Heat,” the “From Dusk Till Dawn” franchise, “Con Air,” “Reindeer Games,” and “Grindhouse.” Outside of his television and film career, Danny is also an entrepreneur. He owns a record label, a chain of coffee & donut shops, and, most notably, a restaurant chain called Trejo’s Tacos, which has five locations around Los Angeles.
In February 2023, Danny Trejo filed for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy. The filing came after Danny accumulated around $2 million worth of IRS debt. According to an interview he gave with TMZ on the day of the filing, the debt was mostly related to mistaken deductions. Trejo and the IRS reportedly reached an agreement on a payment plan that would have him make four payments of $200,000 per year until early 2028 to pay off his debt. However, recent strikes from writers and actors have thrown a wrench in Danny’s plans, and he may have to sell off one of his houses.
Danny Trejo was born on May 16, 1944, in Echo Park, Los Angeles. He is the son of Alice Rivera and Dionisio “Dan” Trejo. At one point, when Danny was still a toddler, the family fled to San Antonio, Texas, after Danny’s father was accused of stabbing a man. After a year of living on the run in Texas, the family returned to L.A., and his father surrendered to the police. When Danny was thirteen years old, the family moved to the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Throughout the 1960s, Trejo was in and out of jail and prison in California. He had already developed a drug and crime habit by the time he was 12. He was arrested for the first time at the age of 10 and was sentenced to a juvenile center.
While serving out a sentence in San Quentin, Danny took up boxing. He eventually became a champion boxer in the prison’s lightweight and welterweight divisions. It was also during this time that he joined a 12-step program that helped him overcome his drug addiction. After his final release from incarceration, he enrolled as a student at Pitzer College in Claremore, California, but left after only one semester.
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At a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in 1985, Trejo met a young man who later called him for support. Danny ended up meeting him on the set of “Runaway Train” (1985), and he was offered a role as a convict extra, likely because of his tough appearance. While on set, Trejo was recognized by Edward Bunker, a well-respected crime author who was also the screenplay writer for “Runaway Train.” Bunker had also previously served time in San Quentin, which is how he recognized Danny and remembered Trejo’s boxing skills. Bunker offered Trejo $320 per day to train one of the movie’s stars, Eric Roberts, for a boxing scene they had to film. The film’s director, Andrei Konchalovsky, was impressed by Trejo’s work and offered him a small role as a boxer.
Trejo is known for his distinctive appearance, which includes facial scars, long hair, a mustache, and lots of tattoos. Since “Runaway Train,” he has enjoyed a highly prolific acting career. At times, he has appeared in five or more movies per year across a variety of genres. Some of the major releases he has appeared in include “Marked for Death” (1990), “Desperado” (1995), “From Dusk till Dawn” (1995), “The Replacement Killers” (1998), “Animal Factory” (2000), “Bubble Boy” (2001), “Spy Kids” (2001), “XXX” (2002), “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004), “Grindhouse” (2007), “Urban Justice” (2007), “Modus Operandi” (2010), “Machete” (2010), “Reaper” (2014), and “Range 15” (2016). Additionally, his own life is documented in the 2005 independent biographical film “Champion.” Trejo produced his first film, “Ambition,” in 2014, followed by the film “Bad Asses” that same year.
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In addition to his film career, Trejo has appearance in over seventy different television shows since 1990. Some of the most well-known of these shows include “Baywatch” (1991-1992), “NYPD Blue” (1996-1998), “The X-Files” (2000), “King of the Hill” (2003-2010), “Monk” (2004), “Desperate Housewives” (2005), “The Young and the Restless” (2008), “Breaking Bad” (2009-2010), “Modern Family” (2010), “Bones” (2011), “Sons of Anarchy” (2011-2012), “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2014), “Rick and Morty” (2017), “American Dad!” (2017-2019), “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (2017), “Blue Bloods” (2019), and “Dynasty” (2020). In 2021, Danny portrayed the Ghost of Huet in the Disney+ Halloween special “Muppets Haunted Mansion, and in 2022, he made his “Star Wars” debut in the Disney+ series “The Book of Boba Fett” as Rancor.
Although Trejo is often typecast as a rugged, thuggish character, he has also appeared in more sympathetic roles, for example, in “Spy Kids,” “Bubble Boy,” and “Monk.” His appearance in season two of “Desperate Housewives” is also a good example of him as a more sympathetic character; he helps Gabrielle deal with the grief of losing her unborn child.
Trejo also has an extensive list of music video cameo appearances. Just a few examples include the videos for the songs “Got It Twisted” (2004) by Mobb Deep, “Double Blade” (2003) by Jay Chou, “Loco” (2013) by Enrique Iglesias, “Angel in Blue Jeans” (2014) by Train, and “Repentless” (2015) by Slayer.
Danny Trejo has lent his voice to the video games “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002), “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories” (2006), and “Fallout: New Vegas” (2010). He has also appeared himself in the “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (2010), “Taco Run!” (2018), and “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” (2019). He participated in promotions in 2019 for “Magic: The Gathering Arena” and made guest appearances in the DLC expansion “Far Cry 6: Danny and Dani vs. Everybody” (2021), “Olli Olli World” (2022), and the “SCUM: Danny Trejo Character Pack” (2022).
Danny is also a successful restauranteur. The first restaurant that he opened was Trejo’s Tacos in 2016, followed by Trejo’s Cantina and Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts in 2017. The restaurants are overseen by executive chef Mason Royal.
Danny has been married and divorced four times. He was married to Debbie Shreve from 1997 to 2009, and they have three children.
Trejo is the second cousin of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, a relationship the two did not discover until the filming of the movie “Desperado.”
Danny owns several homes in the L.A. area.
In June 1999, he paid $130,000 for a home in the L.A. suburb of Pico Rivera. A relative appears to occupy this home today.
His primary residence since 2012 is a home in Mission Hills, California, which he purchased in 2012 for $550,000. Today, this home is worth $1.2 million and has been a focal point in his bankruptcy battle. Trejo also inherited a Pacoima property from his mother worth $750,000 that he may have to sell off in order to make payments to the IRS.
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