Cheech Marin
Birthdate: Jul 13, 1946
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Cheech Marin (birth name: Richard Anthony Marin) is the Chicano half of the famed comedy duo, Cheech & Chong, and is a prominent art collector, but he has managed a very long and durable movie career, beginning with the smash hit Up in Smoke (1978), which Marin wrote with Cheech & Chong partner, Tommy Chong, and also co-starred in with Tom Skerritt, Edie Adams, Strother Martin and Stacy Keach under Lou Adler’s direction, and grossing a knockout $104 million on a $2 million budget for Paramount Pictures. Marin co-starred with Chong, who directed and co-wrote Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie (1980), grossing $41.7 million for Universal Pictures.
Marin again co-wrote and co-starred with director Tommy Chong for the duo’s third studio-made comedy, Nice Dreams (1981), with Stacy Keach, Paul Reubens, Timothy Leary, and Sandra Bernhard, earning $35 million for Columbia Pictures. Marin co-starred and co-wrote with Chong the duo’s fourth studio comedy (again for Columbia Pictures), Things Are Tough All Over (1982), grossing $21 million, and then their fifth movie collaboration, the Amsterdam-set Still Smokin (1983), which he wrote and starred in with Chong, and which grossed $15.5 million for Paramount Pictures.
Cheech Marin, with Tommy Chong, joined forces with members of Monty Python and British comedy geniuses Peter Cook and Spike Milligan as part of the cast of Yellowbeard (1983), with Graham Chapman, Peter Boyle, Michael Hordern, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, James Mason, John Cleese, Marty Feldman and Peter Bull under Mel Damski’s direction, and grossing only $4.3 million.
Marin again was co-writer and co-star (with director Chong) for the duo’s sixth and final narrative comedy movie (and their only non-stoner movie), Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (1984), a parody of Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 novel, and grossing $3.7 million for Orion Pictures.
Marin was cast (with Chong) by Martin Scorsese for a supporting role in his dark comedy, After Hours (1985), starring Griffin Dunne, with Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, John Heard and Catherine O’Hara, and won Scorsese the Cannes Film Festival Palme for Best Director and grossing $10.6 million for The Geffen Brothers/Warner Bros. Marin then made his feature debut as director/writer/star of Born in East L.A. (1987), based on Cheech & Chong’s 1985 single of the same title, with Paul Rodriguez, Daniel Stern, Kamala Lopez, Jan-Michael Vincent and Lupe Ontiveros, and grossing $17 million for Universal Pictures.
Cheech Marin joined the cast of the crime comedy, Fatal Beauty (1987), starring Whoopi Goldberg, with Sam Elliott, Ruben Blades, Harris Yulin, and Jennifer Warren under Tom Holland’s direction, and released by MGM/UA to a $12 million take. Marin took on his first voice role as Tito the Chihuahua in an animated movie with Disney’s successful Oliver & Company (1988), based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, featuring the voices of Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia and Bette Midler under George Scribner’s direction, and grossing an excellent $121 million globally.
Marin had his first non-Cheech & Chong lead movie role in Rude Awakening (1989), joining Eric Roberts, Julie Hagerty, Robert Carradine, Buck Henry, Louise Lasser, Cindy Williams, and Andrea Martin under David Greenwalt’s and producer Aaron Russo’s co-direction, and which lost money for distributor Orion Pictures. Marin co-starred with Emma Samms in the box-office bomb, The Shrimp on the Barbie (1990), and then Marin did a voice role (alongside Tommy Chong) in the U.S./Australia animated musical fantasy, FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), with the voice cast of Tim Curry, Samantha Mathis, Christian Slater, Robin Williams and Grace Zabriskie under Bill Kroyer’s direction, grossing $32.7 million for 20th Century Fox.
Cheech Marin starred in the little-seen adventure comedy directed and co-starring Anthony Edwards, Charlie’s Ghost Story (1995) and then Marin played a supporting role in director/star Paul Rodriguez’s comedy, A Million to Juan (1994), based on Mark Twain’s story, “The Million Pound Bank Note” and released by Samuel Goldwyn Company.
Marin landed his most prominent voice role to date as Banzai in Disney’s landmark and first original animated movie, The Lion King (1994), with the voices of Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson and Robert Guillaume, under the co-direction of Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff and with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, grossing an astounding $979 million worldwide on a $45 million budget and winning two Oscars.
Marin began a long string of movie collaborations with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez with a role as “Short Bartender” in the neo-Western, Desperado (1995), starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida, Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino, and grossing $58 million (on $7 million costs) for Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing after premiering out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Marin stayed in the Rodriguez-Tarantino movie universe by joining director/editor Rodriguez and screenwriter/co-star filmmaker Tarantino for a featured multi-role turn in the wild crime-horror movie, From Dusk till Dawn (1996), starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Tarantino, Fred Williamson and Juliette Lewis, earning $59 million for Miramax Films.
Cheech Marin played roles in back-to-back sports comedies written by Ron Shelton—first, the 20th Century Fox-backed boxing comedy, The Great White Hype (1996), starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Berg, Jon Lovitz, Corbin Bernsen, Jamie Foxx and Damon Wayans under Reginald Hudlin’s direction; and then Marin continued with director/screenwriter Shelton as part of the colorful cast of the golf comedy, Tin Cup (1996), starring Kevin Costner, Rene Russo and Don Johnson, and grossing $76 million for Warner Bros. Marin joined the live-action cast of Gena Rowlands, Tony Shalhoub and Bruce Davison in the John Roberts-directed comedy-drama, Paulie (1998), with Jay Mohr voicing the titular talking parrot, but earning a disappointing $27 million for distributor DreamWorks Pictures.
Marin has noted that the worst movie he ever played in—despite its notaable cast—was the black comedy, Picking Up the Pieces (2000), co-starring Woody Allen, David Schwimmer, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Kiefer Sutherland, Elliot Gould and Sharon Stone under Alfonso Arau’s direction, and released to poor business by Artisan Entertainment. Marin reunited with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez for a prominent role in Dimension Films’ hit family-oriented spy comedy, Spy Kids (2001), grossing a robust $148 million, following up with cameos in Rodriguez’s sequels, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003).
Marin was cast in a supporting role by director/co-writer/star Roberto Benigni in his pricy, failed Italian-made adaptation of Pinocchio (2002), followed by Marin joining the starry cast of the eccentric BBC Films-backed movie co-written by Bob Dylan (under the nom de plume of “Sergei Petrov”) and director Larry Charles, Masked and Anonymous (2003), starring Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Steven Bauer, Bruce Dern, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Chris Penn, Giovanni Ribisi, Christian Slater, Susan Tyrrell and Fred Ward, but grossing just over a half-million dollars gross for Sony Pictures Classics.
Marin continued working with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez in a supporting role in the neo-Western, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), the third entry in Rodriguez’s “Mexico Trilogy,” starring Antonio Banderas reprising his El Mariachi role, with Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Ruben Blades and Willem Dafoe, earning a strong $99 million take for Sony/Columbia Pictures/Dimension Films.
Cheech Marin had his second voice role as a pooch in director/co-writer John Hoffman’s live-action family comedy for MGM and Jim Henson Pictures, Good Boy! (2003), joining the eclectic voice ensemble (all voicing dogs) of Matthew Broderick, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner and Vanessa Redgrave, and earning $45.3 million for MGM and 20th Century Fox. Marin played a supporting role in the Joe Roth-directed and Chris Columbus-written and produced Christmas comedy, Christmas with the Kranks (2004), starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd and M. Emmet Walsh, grossing a poor $96 million (against $60 million costs) for Columbia Pictures.
Marin’s next Hollywood comedy was a disaster, Miramax’s widely panned action comedy, Underclassmen (2005), starring Nick Cannon, grossing only $5.6 million on a $25 million budget, but Marin was able to land a hit with his next movie in the role of the Chevy Impala lowrider dubbed “Ramone” in Disney/Pixar’s hit animated comedy, Cars (2006), with the striking voice cast of Paul Newman, Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jenifer Lewis and Michael Keaton under John Lasseter’s direction, and continued in the successful sequels, Cars 2 (2011) and Cars 3 (2017), grossing a combined $1.4 billion.
Marin took on a very different Disney character voice—not of a chihuahua, but of a rat—in the live-action/digital animated comedy, Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), directed by Raja Gosnell, starring Piper Perabo, Jamie Lee Curtis and Manolo Cardona, and with the voices of Drew Barrymore, George Lopez and Andy Garcia, and grossing a knockout number of $149 million (on $20 million costs).
Cheech Marin stayed with Disney for a live-action reboot, Race to Witch Mountain (2009), starring Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, and Carla Gugino under Andy Fickman’s direction, and delivering $106 million on a $50 million budget. Marin then had his first co-starring role in a drama, the Little League movie The Perfect Game (2010), directed by William Dear and co-starring Clifton Collins Jr., Emilie de Ravi, and Louis Gossett Jr., but earning only $3.8 million for Lionsgate.
Marin was a voice actor in the English-language version of director/co-writer Goro Miyazaki’s Ghibli Studio animated feature debut, Tales from Earthsea (2010), released in the U.S. by Optimum Releasing, and then Marin once again joined forces with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez as a padre in the wild action movie, Machete (2010), starring Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and Robert De Niro, premiering at the Venice Film Festival and earning a potent $45.4 million for 20th Century Fox on a $10.5 million budget. Marin reunited with Tommy Chong for a concert movie capturing their “Light Up America” tour, Cheech & Chong’s Hey, Watch This! (2010), directed by Christian Charles, and released by The Weinstein Company.
Cheech Marin was cast in a voice role in the widely panned animated sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011), with the voices of Hayden Panettiere, Glenn Close, Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Martin Short, Andy Dick and David Ogden Stiers, under Mike Disa’s direction, and earning a poor $23 million (on $30 million costs) for The Weinstein Company. Marin was then cast in the English-language voice cast of the dubbed version of the Spanish-made animated adventure comedy, Tad, The Lost Explorer/Las aventuras de Tadeo Jones (2012), grossing a worldwide take of $61 million.
Marin reunited with Tommy Chong as the voices in an animated feature version of their sketch comedy bits, Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie! (2013), written by Cheech and Chong and directed and produced by Branden Chambers and Eric D. Chambers, and released by 20th Century Fox. Marin continued with his active work as a voice actor in the Reel FX Animation Studios and Guillermo del Toro-produced animated Day of the Dead fantasy, The Book of Life (2014), by debuting director/co-writer Jorge R. Gutierrez, with the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Kate del Castillo and Christina Applegate, and grossing a good $100 million for 20th Century Fox.
Cheech Marin took on yet another voice role in another Day of the Dead-themed animated tale, Disney/Pixar’s highly acclaimed comedy-drama, Coco (2017), directed by Lee Unkrich and with the voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Ana Ofelia Murguia and Edward James Olmos, winning two Oscars (Best Animated Feature and Best Song) and grossing a terrific $814 million (against $225 million costs).
Marin returned to live-action movies as part of the cast of the family comedy, The War with Grandpa (2020), starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Jane Seymour and Christopher Walken, originally set for a Weinstein Company release but postponed due to the company’s closure, and ultimately losing money for distributors 101 Studios/Brookdale Studios.
Marin joined director Bobby Farrelly and star Woody Harrelson in the basketball comedy-drama, Champions (2023), with Kaitlin Olson and Ernie Hudson, and grossing $19 million for Focus Features/Universal Pictures, and then in the same year Marin jumped over to another sport—golfing—for director/co-writer Julio Quintana’s historical 1950s account of young Mexican-American golfers, The Long Game (2023), with Jay Hernandez, Julian Works, Jaina Lee Ortiz and Dennis Quaid, and released by Mucho Mas Media to $3 million business after premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
Cheech Marin returned to the movie screen for another reunion with Tommy Chong in the documentary about Cheech & Chong, Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie (2025), directed and produced by David L. Bushell, premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival and released wide by Keep Smokin’. Marin was then cast by director/co-writer Jonathan Baker for the fantasy-romance, Fate (date to be announced), co-starring Janet Montgomery, Mena Suvari, Andrew McCarthy, Harvey Keitel, and Faye Dunaway.
Personal life
Cheech Marin was born in South Los Angeles and was raised in South Los Angeles and the Los Angeles suburb of Granada Hills by parents Elsa (secretary) and Oscar (LAPD police officer and WWII Navy vet). Marin is of Mexican descent and identifies as Chicano. Marin attended St. John Baptist de la Salle grade school and graduated from Bishop Alemany High School. Marin attended and graduated from San Fernando Valley State College (later Cal State Northridge), and later fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War and met Calgary-based Tommy Chong, leading to their creation of Cheech & Chong.
Marin married producer Darlene Morley from 1975 to 1984, and when they divorced, the couple had one child. Marin was then married to artist Patti Heid, and they later divorced; the couple has two children. Marin has been married to Russian pianist Natasha Marin since 2009. Marin’s height is 5′ 6”. Marin’s estimated net worth is $30 million.
Cheech Marin Movies
actor
Previous (7)
- 2025 |
Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie
asCheech Marin
Exploring their 5-decade career performing stand-up, making records, and starring in hit films. It covers their lives, comedy partnership, and lasting influence on pop culture.
- 2023 |
- 2020 |
The War with Grandpa
asDanny
Upset that he has to share the room he loves with his grandfather, Peter decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back.
- 2006 |
- 2003 |
Spy Kids 3: Game Over
asFelix Gumm
Carmen's caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Kids' new nemesis, the Toymaker. It's up to Juni to save his sister, and ultimately the world.
- 2001 |
- 1994 |
The Lion King
asBanzai
Lion prince Simba and his father are targeted by his bitter uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.
Facts About Cheech Marin
Baby Cheech: Cheech Marin was born with a cleft lip, prompting his uncle to say that “Ay, parece un chicharrón (Looks like a little chicharrón, you know?)” The cleft lip was later surgically repaired, but left Marin with a visible scar on his lip.
What if…?: Marin left Los Angeles (a day after failing to be recruited as a singer for Frank Zappa’s The Mothers of Invention) for Vancouver, British Columbia to evade the Vietnam-era military draft, and had he not done so, he would’ve never met future comedy partner Tommy Chong, whom Marin soon met in Calgary.
The Cheech: Cheech Marin established in 2022 (when it opened) the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry in collaboration with the City of Riverside and the Riverside Art Museum, comprising the world’s largest collection of Chicano art in the world and drawing from Marin’s extensive art collection.
Cannabis Businessman: Marin has a considerable cannabis business via such enterprises as his partnership with GLE Brands Inc. via Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corporation for his Private Stash brand of cannabis products.
On Cheech & Chong: Cheech Marin has noted regarding his roller coaster partnership with his Cheech & Chong mate, Tommy Chong: “We’re not best friends. We’re brothers. You can fight with your brother.”
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