Page 11 - 8th Annual Biz Fest

About the Artist;

Born on July 13, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, Cheech Marin found his calling after meeting Tommy Chong
in Canada. Performing as the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, the two released a series of highly successful
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comedy albums in the 1970s, and became symbols of marijuana culture with the 1978 film Up in Smoke.

Marin has since enjoyed more success in television and movies. He's also an avid art collector. Half of the
famed stoner duo Cheech and Chong, Cheech Marin is an accomplished comedian, actor and director.
Synopsis

Cheech and Chong
Marin was delivering carpets when he met Tommy Chong, a musician who was running an improv comedy
troupe from a strip bar owned by his family. After a brief spell with the troupe, Marin and Chong began
performing as a musical act, then as stand-up comedy duo. As "Cheech and Chong," they struck a chord with
the late-1960s counter-culture crowd by playing up their ethnic stereotypes (Marin was Mexican-American;
Chong was Scottish-Irish-Chinese) and spoofing their stoner lifestyles.

The two brought their act to Los Angeles in 1970, and shortly after catching the attention of record producer
Lou Adler, they released their first album, Cheech and Chong (1971). Their 1972 follow-up, Big Bambu, became
the highest-selling comedy album in history at the time, and Los Cochinos, released the following year, earned
them a Grammy Award.

In 1978, the duo made a successful transition to the big screen with the cult stoner hit Up in Smoke. Directed and
produced by Adler on a meager budget, the film took in more than $100 million at the box office and established
Credit Biography Newsletter Cheech and Chong, in 1985.
Cheech and Chong as official symbols of marijuana culture. They wrote and directed multiple sequels to Up in
Smoke, but eventually tired of the material, and split up after releasing their ninth album, Get Out of My Room:

Personal Life
Marin began collecting art around the time he embarked on his solo career, and, today, owns what is considered
to be the largest private collection of Chicano art in the world. Seeking to bring exposure to unheralded artists,
he formed the "Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge" exhibition, which toured several major
American cities from 2001 to 2007. He currently serves on the boards of the Smithsonian Latino Center and the
Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and has been honored for his work with the Latino community.