hollywoodland
Danny Trejo: A Prison Riot, the Gas Chamber, and Becoming Fear
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In this episode
Danny Trejo holds the record for most on-screen deaths by an actor. His go-to role is the bad guy – the baddest guy. The guy you do not mess with. And for the first 25 years of his life, he was that guy in real life. He led a life of violence and drugs that landed him in just about every hardcore prison in California, including Folsom and San Quentin. On the inside, he ran the gym, the drugs, and protection rackets. And then one day, the tables turned and Danny Trejo was the one who needed protection. After the dust settled on a bloody prison riot, Trejo found himself staring down the death penalty.
Sources
Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood, by Danny Trejo with Donal Logue
How Danny Trejo Built a Decades-Long Film Career After Prison (Texas Monthly)
How Danny Trejo’s criminal past helped him succeed as an actor (NY Post)
How Danny Trejo Escaped Death Row & Fought His Way to Hollywood (Joker)
Danny Trejo: 'I went to the hole looking at three gas-chamber offences' (The Guardian)
Pacoima historian tells the tale of America through the lens of her hometown (LA Daily News)
Danny Trejo on Robbing a Store with a Grenade (Jordan Harbinger Show)
Rare look inside San Quentin Prison, home of death row (ABC 7 Bay Area)
Description of Each Execution Method (Death Penalty Information Center)
Firing Squad to Gas Chamber: How Long Do Executions Take? (NBC News)
Prison Legal News Interviews Former Prisoner and Famous Actor Danny Trejo (Prison Legal News)
Credits
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy edited by James Sullivan.
Scored and mixed by Joel Edinburg.
Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraker.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak