Adolfo Larrue Martínez III (born September 27, 1948), credited as A Martinez, is an American actor and singer. He had roles in the daytime

soap operas A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originated from radio dramas original ...

'' Santa Barbara'', ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'', ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'', ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

'', and ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'', and the primetime dramas ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', '' Profiler'', '' Longmire'' and '' Dark Winds''. His feature films include ''

The Cowboys ''The Cowboys'' is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Bruce Dern, and featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Slim Pickens. It was the feature film debut of Robert Carradine. Based on the 1971 novel of the sam ...

'' (1972), '' Powwow Highway'' (1989), '' Curse of Chucky'' (2013), ''

Ambulance An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to ...

'' (2022) and '' Far Haven'' (2023).

Early life and education

Martinez was born Adolfo Larrue Martínez III in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. His family referred to him as "A", "Little Adolfo", and "Little A" as a child to distinguish him from his father and grandfather. Over time, "A" became the name he would use. His heritage is Mexican and

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

on his father's side, and

Piegan Blackfeet The Piegan (Blackfeet language, Blackfeet: ''Piikáni'') are an Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaking people from the Plains Indians, North American Great Plains. They are the largest of three Blackfeet-speaking groups that make up the Bla ...

and Northern European on his mother's side. Martinez attended Sunland Elementary School and Mt. Gleason Junior High School in Sunland/Tujunga, where he played

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

youth softball each summer (he was a formidable pitcher) and starred in numerous school musical productions. He graduated from

Verdugo Hills High School Verdugo Hills High School (VHHS) is a public school located in the Tujunga community of Los Angeles, California, United States, within the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The school serves students from several areas of Los Angel ...

in Tujunga. In high school, he was in a rock band and on the track team. After intending to study political science at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, he turned to acting instead.

Career

Martinez began his professional career at age 12, as a singer, and earned a talent competition title at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

. After graduating college, he played on a semi-pro

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team for five seasons.

Film

Martinez has appeared in a number of feature films, including ''

'' (1972), ''Starbird & Sweet William'' (1973), '' Once Upon a Scoundrel'' (1974), ''Joe Panther'' (1976), '' Shoot the Sun Down'' (1978), '' The Honorary Consul'' (1983), '' Walking the Edge'' (1985), '' Powwow Highway'' (1989), '' She-Devil'' (1989), '' The Cherokee Kid'' (1996), '' What's Cooking?'' (2000), '' Wind River'' (2000), '' Curse of Chucky'' (2013), ''

'' (2022) and '' Far Haven'' (2023).

Television

The majority of his acting roles have been on television. He had a significant appearance, playing the stable hand Luis, who aids Little Joe on the ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' episode "Gideon the Good" in 1970. Also in 1970 he appeared in the episode "Log 114--The Hero" on ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pe ...

''. He had a recurring role on ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' as a helper at Archie's bar. In 1973, he appeared in the '' Hawaii Five-O'' episode "A Bullet for El Diablo". In 1974, he appeared in an episode of the short-lived ABC

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

''Nakia''. In 1976, he played a novice bullfighter in the ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

'' episode "A Matter of Honor". Martinez appeared as Tranquilino Marquez in three episodes of the mini-series ''

Centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

'' in 1979. In 1979 episode of '' Quincy, M.E.'', "Walk Softly Through the Night", he played a pre-med student. In 1979, Martinez made an appearance on ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village (Lower Manhattan). The series was broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Janu ...

'', playing Claudio Ortiz in the sixth-season episode, "The DNA Story". He returned in 1981 to portray Joseph Montoya in the episode "The Doll". Martinez played a grape picker in 1982 on CBS's ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera created by Earl Hamner Jr. that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Cha ...

'', Native American 'Low Wolf' on the short-lived '' Born to the Wind'', and a police detective in the 1983–1984 series '' Whiz Kids''. In 1983 he had a guest role in a Season 5 episode of '' Hart to Hart'' as Jose. From 1984-1992 he played the role of Cruz Castillo on the daytime soap opera ''Santa Barbara''. Martinez has also worked on prime time television, including starring roles in series such as '' Profiler'' and ''

''. In September 2008, Martinez joined the cast of the ABC daytime drama ''

'' in the role of Ray Montez and was written out in June 2009. In February 2011, Martinez appeared in several episodes of the CBS daytime drama ''

'' as Dr. Ramon Montgomery. He returned in January 2012 for a few additional episodes. In 2012, he landed the recurring role of Jacob Nighthorse in the television series '' Longmire''. In April 2014, it was rumored he was joining ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

''. In July 2014, he appeared on the NBC television show '' The Night Shift'' as Dr. Landry, de la Cruz's father. In late 2014, he also appeared in ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' on stage at the Odyssey Theatre in west Los Angeles. From September 2015 to 2017, Martinez appeared on the NBC daytime drama ''

'' as Eduardo "Eddie" Hernandez. He returned to the show in 2020. Martinez played Sheriff Mayo in the third season of the television series '' Queen of the South''. In June 2022, Martinez was cast as Master Pakku in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

live-action series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''. In 2023, he plays Sheriff Gordo Sena in the second season of '' Dark Winds''.

Awards

Over the years, Martinez has been nominated for numerous awards, and received some, including a Daytime Emmy Award, a Red Nation Film Award of Excellence, an award as Best Supporting Actor at the Red Dirt International Film Festival (for his own written short film called "Four Winds), and three from the Soap Opera Digest Awards.

Personal life

In 1981, he was married briefly to actress

Mare Winningham Mary Megan Winningham, known professionally as Mare Winningham ( ; born May 16, 1959), is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe ...

, who was also cast on ''The Young Pioneers''; they divorced later that year. In 1982, he married Leslie Bryans; they have a son and two daughters. He moved from Malibu to

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, A 1948 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American musicians American male actors of Mexican descent American people of Blackfoot descent American musicians of Mexican descent American people of Apache descent American male film actors American male television actors American male soap opera actors Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series winners UCLA Film School alumni Male actors from Glendale, California Musicians from Glendale, California Verdugo Hills High School alumni