Luis Contreras

Birthday: 1950-09-18
Deathday: 2004-06-20
Birthplace: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

Tall, lean, and wiry, 6-foot-4 Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor. The son of Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor, Roberto Contreras. Luis Contreras was born on September 18, 1950. Lean and wiry, often sporting a mass of curly hair and drooping mustache, with his piercing dark eyes and angular face Contreras ranged between portraying various criminals and police officers. Contreras made his film debut as a Federale in Steven Spielberg's wonderful science fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." He also popped up as a zoot suiter in Spielberg's hilarious all-star comedy "1941." Contreras frequently acted in movies for director Walter Hill: "The Long Riders," "48 HRS.,""Extreme Prejudice," "Red Heat," "Geronimo: An American Legend," and "Last Man Standing." Contreras was especially memorable as a grocery store security guard in the cult classic sci-fi black comedy "Repo Man," the vicious ringleader of a gang of cocaine cowboys in "Stand Alone," a hostile eye-patched biker in the delightfully madcap "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and a deranged homeless man who terrorizes a trio of teenage girls in the "A Night on the Town" episode of the hugely enjoyable horror anthology "After Midnight." Contreras also did guest appearances on the TV shows "CHiPs," "Quincy M.E.," "T.J. Hooker," "Knight Rider," "Riptide," "Hill Street Blues," "Simon & Simon," "Night Court," "Hunter," "Matlock," and "Carnivale", regularly working through the 1970s and 1980s. Luis Contreras died of cancer at the tragically young age of 53 on June 20, 2004.

Credits

	Year	Title	Character
	2004-09-10	Criminal	Carlos
	2004-06-09	Wednesday Afternoon	The Bartender
	2001-01-01	Missing Pieces	Beggar
	2000-11-12	American Tragedy	Bum
	2000-02-01	Across the Line	Timex
	1996-09-20	Last Man Standing	Comandante Ramirez
	1996-09-13	The Winner	Guy in Couple
	1994-09-02	Dragstrip Girl	Raoul
	1993-12-10	Geronimo: An American Legend	Rurale Officer
	1993-02-28	Rio Diablo	Pedro Almenzar
	1993-02-05	Bound by Honor	Realthing
	1992-11-14	Desert Kickboxer
	1991-11-27	Dollman	Jackson
	1991-10-05	Lower Level	Street Person
	1991-10-04	Suburban Commando	Ringo
	1990-07-22	El Diablo	Pestoso
	1989-11-03	After Midnight	The Dogs' Master (segment "A Night on the Town")
	1988-06-17	Red Heat	Lupo
	1988-04-29	Sunset	Jail Inmates
	1987-12-04	Walker	Benito
	1987-06-26	Straight to Hell	Sal
	1987-05-03	Police Story: The Freeway Killings	Apartment Manager
	1987-04-24	Extreme Prejudice	Lupo
	1986-06-27	Running Scared	Thug (uncredited)
	1986-05-30	Big Trouble	Terrorist #2
	1986-05-02	Blue City	Lieutenant Ortiz
	1985-09-01	Stand Alone	Look-Out
	1985-07-26	Pee-wee's Big Adventure	Biker #2
	1985-01-11	Walking the Edge	Jesus
	1984-11-27	A Touch of Scandal	Eugenio Salvador
	1984-03-02	Repo Man	Mr. Humphries' Security Guard
	1982-12-07	48 Hrs.	Gang Member
	1982-02-19	Barbarosa	Angel
	1980-12-19	Borderline
	1980-05-16	The Long Riders	Man at the Bar
	1980-04-25	Heart Beat	Mexican Junkie
	1980-04-03	The Last Married Couple in America	Party Guest
	1979-12-14	1941	Zoot Suiter
	1977-12-14	Close Encounters of the Third Kind	Federale