RAB ! - Biography |
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Robert Beltran was born in Bakersfield, CA on November 19th, 1953
(year not confirmed). As a second generation Mexican-American, he describes
his heritage as Latindio. He is the seventh of ten children, and one of
eight boys. During high school, he was involved in sports - baseball and
football - and it wasn't until he began college that he first considered a
career as an actor. He graduated from Fresno State with a degree in Theatre
Arts, a degree which took seven years to complete because, as he told a
convention audience, "there was always another play to do."
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Angeles, Robert landed his first film role, a small part in Luis Valdez's
Zoot Suit. His next job was the title role in Paul Bartel's Eating
Raoul, a cult classic. Since that time, he has found continuous
employment in films, television and theatre. His current filmography
includes about 30 titles, among them the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated
Gaby a true Story, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills
(yet another Paul Bartel film), and Oliver Stone's Nixon. He also
appeared in Night of the Comet, one of those movies which shows up on
cable television at least as often as Star Wars, Rocky, and
Grease II! Before he claimed the role of Commander Chakotay, he was
featured on Veronica Clare (Lifetime) and Models, Inc. (Fox),
and he has done some episodic television as well. One of his finest
performances came as a guest star in a two-part episode of NBC's Midnight
Caller called "Life without possibility," a role which should have but
inexplicably did not win him Emmy consideration.
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In the theatre, he has appeared in productions for Luis Valdez's El Teatro Campesino, the LA Theater Center, the California Shakespeare Festival, and others. Because theatre was his first love and it remains an abiding passion, Robert founded and serves as co-artistic director of the East LA Classic Theater Group, which is affiliated with Cal State LA. He also belongs to Classic Theater Lab, an ensemble of professional actors that co-produced Robert's Hamlet, which played from April 11-May 11, 1997 at the Actors' Gang Theater in Hollywood. He served as co-producer and director of this well-received production, as well as playing the title role. In 2003, Robert was finally able to mount a
new stage production: Clifford Odet's "The Big Knife" which played from Nov
8 - Dec 14 at the Lillian Theatre in Los Angeles. Robert played the title
role, and here is an excerpt from the LA Times review:
"Reminiscent of John Garfield in his
prime, Beltran is righteously passionate as a conscientious artist forced
into an unholy compromise — Odets' prescient nod to escalating
McCarthyism......"
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During the seven years from 1995 to
2001, Robert found his life busy with Star Trek: Voyager. As part
of the Trek franchise he has found great acclaim, and in 1997 he received a
Nosotros Golden Eagle award, annually presented to artists whose work
presents positive Hispanic images to the world, for best actor in a
television series.
Robert and ST Voyager actors Ethan Phillips and Tim Russ (May 2000)
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 In Londons - June 2000
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Robert supports the "National Down Syndrome Association",
a cause that is important to him because of his youngest brother who suffers from
Down Syndrome. To raise money for the "Down Syndrome Association of Los
Angeles" (DSALA), Robert organised for four years a charity fundraising
event called the
GALAXY BALL
which was held in Los Angeles (from 1998 to 2001).
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