Biography

Alma Martinez (PhD, MFA) is an acclaimed American actor whose distinguished career in theatre, film, television, and voice spans nearly five decades. Born in Mexico, she immigrated to the United States with her family at seven months old. Encouraged by her high school teacher, Squire Fridell, she discovered acting early and never looked back.

In 1978, she joined Luis Valdez’s groundbreaking ensemble, El Teatro Campesino, an experience that transformed both her artistic path and sense of purpose as a Chicana actor. Valdez quickly cast her as the romantic lead in the landmark play Zoot Suit, followed by the acclaimed film adaptation, now archived in the Library of Congress. She went on to become Valdez’s leading actress on projects spanning 20 years.

Film offers came in rapid succession: Barbarosa, directed by Fred Schepisi and written by Bill Wittliff, starring Willie Nelson and Gilbert Roland; Under Fire, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, written by Ron Shelton and Clayton Frohman, and starring Gene Hackman and Jean-Louis Trintignant; and Born in East L.A., written, directed by, and starring Cheech Marin.

Her extensive television work includes the Peabody Award-winning series The Bridge (Season 1) and Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution, featuring Linda Ronstadt. In recognition of her contributions to the industry, she was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1996 and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2018.

A consummate stage actor, she received the 2023 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Drama for her performance in Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles. Her stage career includes more than 200 international, regional, and community productions, workshops, and stage and film developmental projects. She has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at leading institutions including Center Theatre Group (Electricidad premiere), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Fuente Ovejuna), and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Macbeth, The Skin of Our Teeth). Among her notable stage performances is In the Summer House at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis with music by Philip Glass, alongside Dianne Wiest and Liev Schreiber. She also collaborated with Francis Ford Coppola and Carrie Fisher in a screenplay development workshop at Zoetrope Studios.

She holds a PhD in Drama from Stanford University and an MFA in Acting from USC. Her training also includes work at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, Jerzy Grotowski’s Para Theatre Lab in Berkeley, and the Centro Universitario de Teatro (UNAM) in Mexico with Héctor Mendoza and Luis de Tavira.

Alma has dedicated her artistic journey to exploring and elevating the rich, evolving U.S.-Mexico, Chicanx, and Latiné experience with performances that are rooted in humanity, humor, and gravitas.
- IMDb mini biography by: Shakina Nayfack