LA City Council declares June 20 as 'Cheech Marin Day' in honor of comedian

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The city council has proclaimed June 20 "Cheech Marin Day'' in Los Angeles to honor the Chicano comedian, actor and art collector, coinciding with the third anniversary of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside.

City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez led the presentation in the Council Chambers to recognize Marin.

In April, the councilman introduced a resolution to celebrate Marin, which was unanimously adopted by the City Council.

Marin was born in South Los Angeles and raised in the San FernandoValley, graduating from Bishop Alemany High School and what is now Cal State Northridge.

He formed the comedy duo Cheech & Chong in the early 1970s with his friend Tommy Chong, recording seven studio albums and making six films together before the duo disbanded in 1985.

Marin made his directorial debut in 1987 with "Born in East LA,'' which he also starred in. He appeared in many of Robert Rodriguez's films, including the last two installments of Rodriguez's "Mexico'' trilogy, the "Spy Kids'' trilogy, "Machete,'' and "From Dusk Till Dawn.''

Marin was also a cast member in the 1996-2001 CBS crime drama "Nash Bridges.''

He supplied voices for such animated films as "The Lion King,'' "Cars'' and its sequels, "Cars 2'' and "Cars 3.''

Marin started collecting Chicano art in the 1980s and over the years provided work from his private collection to two national touring exhibitions.

He eventually created the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, the first North American museum dedicated to Mexican-American or Chicano art.

The museum holds more than 700 pieces of Chicano art from Marin's personal collection.

City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.