Portrait of Lou Diamond Phillips

Birthday profile

Lou Diamond Phillips

Lou Diamond Phillips, American actor and director

Born
February 17, 1962
Age in 2026
64
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1962

About Lou Diamond Phillips

Louis Diamond Phillips (né Upchurch; born February 17, 1962) is an American actor, director, and writer. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba (1987). For his performance as Angel David Guzman in Stand and Deliver (1988), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. Phillips made his Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of The King and I, earning a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of King Mongkut of Siam. Phillips's other notable films include Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990), Courage Under Fire (1996), The Big Hit (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), Che (2008), and The 33 (2015). In the A&E/Netflix television series Longmire, he played a main character named Henry Standing Bear. He played New York City Police Lieutenant Gil Arroyo on Prodigal Son on FOX from 2019 to 2021. Phillips won a Theatre World Award, and was nominated for both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance. Phillips won the second season of the NBC reality series, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, over pro wrestler Torrie Wilson. They are partners in writing and she illustrated Phillips's first published novel.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Lou Diamond Phillips timeline

  1. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba (1987).
  2. For his performance as Angel David Guzman in Stand and Deliver (1988), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.

The world when Lou Diamond Phillips was born

Lou Diamond Phillips was born in 1962. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1962

  • #1 song"I Can't Stop Loving You" – Ray Charles
  • Top movieLawrence of Arabia
  • Top TV showThe Beverly Hillbillies
  • Best-selling bookA Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentWilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single NBA game
  • Top headlineCuban Missile Crisis — world comes closest to nuclear war
  • Technology milestoneJohn Glenn orbits the Earth
  • Defining fadJames Bond mania (Dr. No released)
  • Notable inventionLED (light-emitting diode)
  • World population3.14 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn F. Kennedy
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population186.5M

1962 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Lou Diamond Phillips's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19622026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,800$435,000
Average income$7,900$67,500
Minimum wage$1.15$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.70$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population186.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.