Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips is one of those actors who burst onto the scene so hard in the late '80s that it almost defies belief — playing Ritchie Valens in La Bamba with such genuine warmth and energy that you forget for a moment you're watching a performance, not the real guy. Then he turns right around and does Stand and Deliver, earning a Golden Globe nomination and an Independent Spirit Award, and you realize this isn't a one-hit wonder but a genuinely committed actor. Born at Naval Base Subic Bay and raised in Texas, he's always carried this quietly international quality that makes him hard to pin down and easy to cast in all kinds of roles. The fact that he's also directed and written shows a creative restlessness I respect — he's never been content to just show up and hit his marks.

Name (English)

Lou Diamond Phillips

Name (Japanese)

ルー・ダイアモンド・フィリップス

Reading

るー・だいあもんど・ふぃりっぷす

Born

February 17, 1962 (age 64)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Tiger

Origin

Naval Base Subic Bay, United States

Occupation

actor / film director / screenwriter / television actor / film actor

High school

Flour Bluff High School

University

University of Texas at Arlington

Awards & achievements

• 1996 Theatre World Award

• Xhttps://x.com/LouDPhillips
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou%20Diamond%20Phillips
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%80%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%97%E3%82%B9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q319725

Tags

• actor
• film director
• screenwriter

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.