Dan "Danny" Trejo an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist or anti-hero. He was born on May 16, 1944 in Los Angeles, California. He is of Mexican descent. He is a second cousin of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, though the two were unaware that they were related until the filming of Desperado. Trejo was raised in the Pacoima neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. A child drug addict and criminal, Trejo was in and out of jail for 11 years. While serving time in San Quentin, he won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles. Imprisoned for armed robbery and drug offenses, he successfully completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that changed his life. While speaking at a recovery meeting in 1985, Trejo met Edward Bunker, a well-respected crime author who was writing the screenplay for the film Runaway Train. Bunker, himself a former convict, recognized Trejo, with whom he had done time at San Quentin. He remembered Trejo's boxing skills, and offered him $320 per day to train Eric Roberts, one of the movie's stars, for a boxing scene. Director Andrei Konchalovsky liked Trejo's work and decided to offer him a prominent role in the film. Since then, Trejo has become a prolific actor in films and television, acting alongside some of Hollywood's most famous actors. Trejo has often appeared in five or more movies per year in various genres, usually as a tough criminal or villain. Major releases in which he has acted include Blood in Blood Out, Animal Factory, Bubble Boy, Anaconda, Marked for Death, xXx, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, Con Air, Six Days Seven Nights, Spy Kids, The Replacement Killers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Predators, Urban Justice, The Devil's Rejects, Valley of Angels, Delta Farce, Grindhouse, Rob Zombie's Halloween and Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror.  In 2010, Trejo had the lead role in the Robert Rodriguez film, Machete which opened at #2 in the box office and grossed over 26 million in the United States. As of 2011, he has over a dozen projects in post-production and will reprise his role in two sequels for the film Machete.