Alma Martinez (actress)

Alma Martinez (born 18 March 1953) is a Mexican-American actress, stage director, and professor of theatre. She is best known for her roles in film and television shows including the Peabody Award winning drama series The Bridge with Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger and Corridos: Tales of Passion & Revolution with Linda Ronstadt as well as performances on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, Mexican and European stages.

Early life and career

In 1979, Martinez joined the Center Theatre Group production of Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit. Her film debut was in Valdez's 1981 adaptation, the American classic Zoot Suit, launching a career that led to her induction into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2013. She has since been the lead actress in many of Valdez's projects in a collaboration that has spanned over 30 years. Australian director Fred Schepisi cast her in his American film debut, Barbarosa with Willie Nelson and Gary Busey. This was followed by Under Fire with Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, Ed Harris and Jean Louis Trintignant. Martinez made a notable Broadway debut in In the Summer House directed by Joanne Akalaitis featuring Dianne Wiest, Frances Conroy and Liev Schreiber.

Academic career

Following her PhD from Stanford, in 2001 she became an assistant professor in the Theater and Dance Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. She became an associate professor with tenure in 2006, before moving to Pomona College. From 2006 until 2013, she was an assistant professor at Pomona College. Following a controversial tenure denial, that was settled out of court in 2015, she became an artist-in-residence at the University of La Verne. Subsequently, she became an associate professor of theatre at the University of La Verne.

Film and television

Martinez has appeared in over 20 features and independent films including Born in East L.A. with Cheech Marin, For Greater Glory with Andy Garcia and Oscar Isaac, Strike One with Danny Trejo as well as Cake with Jennifer Aniston and '. Her voiceover work includes the award-winning documentaries The Panama Deception and Food Chains. In 2017 she appeared as Rodney Alcala's mother Anna Alcala in the television film Dating Game Killer.