College of Arts and Humanities
Robert Beltran - Actor
Robert Beltran was born in Bakersfield
in 1953. 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 Theater Arts, a degree which took
seven years to complete because "there was always another play to
do."
Upon moving to Los 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 Bartels's “Eating Raoul,” a cult classic. Since that time, he has found continuous employment in films, television and theater. His current filmography includes 25 titles, among them the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated “Gaby;” “Scenes,” a true story about the class struggle in Beverly Hills; and Oliver Stone's, “Nixon.” He also appeared in “Night of the Comet,” one of those movies which show up on cable television.
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 won him an Emmy, but did not.
In the theater, he has appeared in productions for Luis Valdez's El Teatro Campesino, the LA Theater Center, the California Shakespeare Festival, and others. Because theater was his first love and it remains an abiding passion, Robert founded and serves as the co-artistic director of the East LA Classic Theater Group, which is affiliated with Cal State Los Angeles. He also belongs to Classic Theater Lab, an ensemble of professional actors that co-produced Robert's “Hamlet," which played in 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.
Robert had great success with “Star Trek: Voyager," and as part of the Trek franchise he received a Nosotros Golden Eagle award, presented annually to artists whose work presents positive Hispanic images to the world, for best actor in a television series.