Lou Diamond Phillips was born as Upchurch. He is a director and actor of Filipino-American nationality. He got the breakthrough when he was the star of Ritchie Valens for the biographical drama called La Bamba. For his role in Stand and Deliver, he was nominated for Golden Globe awards and for it; he won the Independent Spirit Award. He made the debut in Broadway while playing in King and I and he was Tony Award nomination for it. He was portraying King Mongkut of Siam. Other films he was in during his career include The 33, Che, The Big Hit, Courage Under Fire, Young Guns, and Young Guns II.
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When it comes to his early life, Lou Diamond Phillips was born in the city of Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines. He is a son to Lucita Umayam Ananas and of Gerald Amon Upchurch who worked as Marine C-13 crew chief. The father is American who has Cherokee and Scottish-Irish ancestry. His mother was born in Candelaria of Zambales, she is a Filipina with some Spanish, Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese ancestry.
Philips got his name from Leland Lou Diamond, a marine legend. At the death of his father, he took up the name of his stepfather, Phillips. He grew up in the city of Texas and there he attended Flour Bluff High School of Corpus Christi. This is where he graduated in the year 1980. He graduated again from University of Texas of Arlington, where he got a BFA of Drama.
He starred for the first time in Trespasses, a low budget film but the biggest break came with La Bamba when he was playing Richie Valens. Before playing in the movie, he was in Miami Vice in Red Tape episode where he played as Ritchie Valens detective. He was the star of Lucy in the Sky With Diamond. This is when he was playing like hyperbolized version for himself and he was known as mysterious and elusive LDP renegade.
According to his biography, he was in the music starting 1990s when he played like a vocalist of The Pipefitters rock group found in Los Angeles. In the year 2012, he was in Imagine Dragons music video of Radioactive. For the stage, the first debut was when he was a king in The King and I of Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers. He was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and Tony Award. He joined the touring group called Camelot of Lerner and Loewe. This is where he was playing as King Arthur.
For his personal life, Lou Diamond Phillips is married and his wife is called Julie Cypher. However, they divorced when she said she was lesbian. He married again to Kelly Phillips, and they have three children together, daughters. However, they also divorced now he is married to Yvonne Boismier and they have a daughter. He is available on social media and his net worth is 6 million.
Last Modified: Mar 7, 2020
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