Honorees

Edward James Olmos
Spirit of Los Angeles

Born on February 24, 1947, in ethnically diverse East Los Angeles, Edward James Olmos stridently works to impact Hollywood, the Latino community, and the consciousness of the United States with an active and persistent voice for change.

Olmos' mother, Eleanor Huizar, met his father, Pedro Olmos, while visiting Mexico City. They married and raised three children: Peter, Edward, and Esperanza. His parents divorced when he was eight, and Edward found refuge in baseball as a means of staying away from street gangs and drugs. Early in his teen years, Olmos found a new love - music. He taught himself to sing and play piano, and by 1961 joined a band, the Pacifi c Ocean. The band produced one album in 1968 and convinced Olmos that he enjoyed entertaining people. Through his experience with Pacifi c Ocean, he met his fi rst wife, Kaija Keel. They married and had two sons, Mico and Bodie. He has since adopted four more children.

In 1978, he played the pivotal Broadway role of El Pachuco in Zoot Suit for which he earned a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award, a Theatre World award, and a nomination for a Tony award. Parts in TV series and movies started to materialize more frequently after his success in Zoot Suit. However, the trend in Hollywood at that time was to cast Latino actors as gangsters, drug dealers, or other sordid characters. Olmos determined to change this trend. He was given an opportunity to demonstrate his determination when he accepted the role of Lt. Castillo on Miami Vice. His portrayal of the character won him an Emmy.

In 1988, he starred in the fi lm Stand and Deliver and received an Academy Award nomination for his work. In 1992, Olmos made his feature fi lm directorial debut with American Me, a fi lm in which he also starred. He went on to make several more feature and TV movies before returning to a television series, American Family.

In 1996, Olmos helped found The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. One year later, he helped launch the Latino Book & Family Festival. In April 1999, Edward was the driving force behind a multimedia project called Americanos: Latino Life in the United States, a Celebration of Latino Culture.

In 2003, Edward returned to television when he accepted the role of Admiral Adama on the Sci-Fi Channel's new hit series, Battlestar Galactica. In 2005, he directed Walkout! for HBO.

Olmos continues his advocacy work to empower Latinos and truly represents the Spirit of Los Angeles.

Gustavo Santaolalla
Dream of Los Angeles

Gustavo Santaolalla is a renowned composer, producer, and artist. He was honored with a second consecutive Academy Award and with Golden Globe Nominations in 2007 for his haunting score for Babel. He also received a remarkable third consecutive BAFTA nomination, winning two of the last three years. The previous two years began a windfall of acclaim for Santaolalla, who was honored with an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Brokeback Mountain, a Latin Grammy as Producer of the Year, BAFTA's for Babel and The Motorcycle Diaries, and a World Soundtrack Award for 21 Grams. He was nominated for two additional Golden Globes, two Critics Choice Awards, and won Best Score from the Chicago Film Critics, Las Vegas Film Critics, and Online Film Critics Associations for Brokeback Mountain.

In 2004, Santaolalla was awarded a Grammy for his work as producer of Café Tacuba's Cuatro Caminos. He also won a Latin Grammy for his work with Café Tacuba and was nominated for Producer of the Year for his work with Juanes (the multi-platinum artist discovered by Santaolalla who has become one of the world's best-selling Latin artists), Molotov, and Bersuit Vergarabat - as well as his own critically-acclaimed project, Bajofondo Tango Club.

Santaolalla solidifi ed his reputation as one of America's premiere record producers in 2003 by virtue of his work and his three Grammy nominations. Nominations for Santaolalla and his label, Surco (a joint venture with Universal), included albums by Juanes and Orishas in the Latin Rock / Alternative Album category and as producer of the Kronos Quartet album Nuevo as best Classical Crossover Album.

After settling in the United States from Argentina, Santaolalla released the album GAS, featuring the hit Todo Vale, which rotated frequently on MTV. His breakthrough as a solo artist came with the 1996 release Ronroco by the prestigious Nonesuch Label through Warner Bros. The album earned rave reviews and put Santaoalalla at the forefront of the Latin music world. As a producer, he has also worked with such artists as: Nelly Furtado, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, The Gypsy Kings, Maldita Vecindad, and Antonio Carmona.

Since being handpicked by director Michael Mann to be featured on The Insider soundtrack, Santaolalla has become a much sought-after fi lm composer, writing original scores and songs for such fi lms as the Oscar- winning Babel, Brokeback Mountain, The Motorcycle Diaries, and the Oscar- nominated 21 Grams, Amores Perros, and North Country starring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand.

Santaolalla recently performed the concert piece Ayre with Osvaldo Golijov and Dawn Upshaw at Lincoln Center in New York and at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and toured Europe with his band, Bajofondo Tango Club. A fi lm about his latest record project, Café De Los Maestros, featuring performances by the world's great tango artists, is being produced by acclaimed filmmaker Walter Salles.

An August, 2005 Time magazine cover story named Santaolalla "one of the 25 most infl uential Hispanics in America," demonstrating he truly represents the Dream of Los Angeles!

Pepe Aguilar
Hope of Los Angeles

Grammy-winning, Latin music superstar Pepe Aguilar celebrates the songs of his youth on his new album, Enamorado, a special collection of ballads about the thrill, the mystery, the wonder, and the heartbreak of romance.

Enamorado is an album for generations past and present, blending traditional Mariachi sounds with contemporary pop music styling. It's Aguilar's 16th release in a remarkable career that spans 25 years and began alongside his parents, entertainers who traveled the Americas with their family.

“I first heard most of these songs on my mother's record player when I was a little boy," he fondly says. "Some of the artists are people I admire very much." And Aguilar maintains the integrity of these enduring songs from the late 1970s and early '80s while bringing a new vision to such classics.

For Aguilar, Enamorado is about more than just "remaking" hits from another era. "You must respect the original works and at the same time, you really have to work at the interpretation to find the right balance with your own style," he says.

With Enamorado, there is no doubt that Aguilar has succeeded as he introduces these masterful ballads to today's music fans. "I remember my mom used to love Julio Iglesias and play him all the time," he recalls. "And my Dad, he was so jealous!"

Aguilar takes pride in his original recordings as well and didn't want to wait until the next studio set to offer something new to his audience, so Enamorado also features a new song, the album's fi rst single, "Se Fue," written by his longtime musical partner, Fato. "It's also like a continuation of what I've been doing - that fusion of Mariachi with pop and jazz."

Aguilar is a true musical ambassador, ready once again to bring his message of song to the entire world with the release of Enamorado. "More than ever, the world is totally open to other cultures, musically speaking. We are going to Europe, to Spain, Italy, and beyond," Aguilar declares. And of course, his massive following in the U.S., Mexico, and throughout Latin America can expect unforgettable performances from one of the world's finest and thoughtful entertainers.

“I always say that albums are like life itself. In life, you have good moments, you have bad moments, happy moments, sad moments, love moments," he says. "That's the way an album should be. An album should be a good companion for any time in your life.”