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In my life I have had many celebrity crushes. Some are weird, some are strange, and one is even a cartoon... If you have ever watched Daria and had an unusual attraction to Trent you know where I am coming from. One of my current celebrity crushes is Danny Trejo. Yes! I said Danny Trejo. If you don't know who that is, let me tell you now, you know who he is. All you have to do it watch a movie with bad ass prisoners, something by Rob Zombie, or a film by Robert Rodriguez and you will see this man in it. He usually plays a rough, bad ass criminal that is tough as nails and then some. He has a scarred face, a long thin mustache, a muscular body, and a large tattoo on his chest making him one of the most distinctive character actors of our time.

Danny Trejo

Danny as Machete

Danny Trejo is in more movies than I can recall and how he got his start in film is quite amazing. He is one of those guys that had a rough childhood that involved drugs and prison. From the time he was a small child he was in and out of jail for 11 years. At one point he ended up in San Quentin. While in prison he took to boxing an won several lightweight titles. When he got out he successfully a 12 step rehab program and changed his life forever. He continued to help others by speaking to people that were going through the same things he was going through with drugs.

Rob Zombie, Diamond Dallas Page, and Danny Trejo

One day while he was speaking at a Cocaine Anon meeting he met a young man that was an actor. He asked Danny to be his sponsor and Danny agreed. Shortly after Danny received a call from the actor saying that he was on the set of a film and that there were drugs and alcohol everywhere tempting him and he asked if Danny would come down to the set as moral support. Danny agreed and soon found himself on the set of Runaway Train. The director saw Danny and asked him to be an extra in the film as a convict because of his tough appearance and tattoos. Also on this same set was a screenwriter that Danny had did time with. The screenwriter remembered Danny's boxing skills and paid him $350 a day to teach the actors how to box. Danny jokingly replied to offer by saying, "For $350 a day, give him a bat. I used to get beat up for free!"

Danny Trejo and Quentin Tarantino

This was the start of Danny's still amazing career in movies. Since then he has been cast in over 200 films. Watch out Kevin Bacon, your name game is about to get demolished! Six degrees of who what now? Since the 1990's Danny has been in at least four films a year and 2002 he was in a total of nine films!

Danny Trejo on the set of From Dusk Til Dawn

In 2005 Danny stepped out of his element and did a documentary called Champion. This film is completely about him. It looks at him before he got into acting and talks about his childhood and issues he faced growing up. This documentary is a very intimate look at his life and I highly recommend it to anyone that adores this man as much as I do.

Champion

I got the chance to meet Danny at a horror convention in Maryland called Horrorfind Weekend in 2009. I was absolutely tickled to meet him. I gladly paid my $30 for a signed picture of himself and as he was signing his name we chatted a bit. I told him that my mother was going to be very jealous that I was getting to meet him. He asked why she didn't come and I told him that she was babysitting my sister's two year old twins while my sister worked as a single mom. He then asked what my mother's name was and signed a photo for her and personalized it free of charge. This made me love him even more.

Danny Trejo, Me, and Kristina Klebe

Danny Trejo and Maggie Gyllenhaal on the set of Sherrybaby

On top of filming an insane amount of movies, attending conventions, keeping up appearances, and spending time with his family, he still speaks and twelve step programs. How can you not love this man? No offense to my fiance or Danny's wife, but I got dibs next time he's in town!

Danny and wife Debbie.