Early life and education
Marin was born to Mexican American parents: Elsa Meza (1923-2010), a secretary, and Oscar Marin (1922-2015), an LAPD officer and World War II Navy veteran.1 He was born with a cleft lip that was surgically repaired. His nickname "Cheech" derives from "chicharrón" (fried pork rind); his uncle coined it upon first seeing him as an infant.1
The family moved from South Central Los Angeles to Granada Hills in 1955. Marin attended Bishop Alemany High School and then enrolled at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), where he earned a degree in English in 1968.1 To avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War, he relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada shortly after graduation.1
Career
Cheech and Chong (1971-1985)
In Vancouver, Marin met comedian Tommy Chong, and the two formed the comedy duo Cheech and Chong. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1971, followed by Big Bambu (1972). Their 1973 album Los Cochinos won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording.1 The duo released additional albums throughout the decade while also breaking into film.
Their 1978 feature Up in Smoke was a box-office success that spawned six more films over the following years, including Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980), Nice Dreams (1981), Things Are Tough All Over (1982), Still Smokin' (1983), and The Corsican Brothers (1984). The partnership dissolved in 1985 after creative differences.
Solo film and television
After parting ways with Chong, Marin wrote, directed, and starred in Born in East L.A. (1987), an expansion of a music video parody he had made. The film was a modest commercial success and established him as a credible solo voice.
Throughout the 1990s Marin worked steadily across a range of genres. He voiced Tito the Chihuahua in Disney's Oliver and Company (1988), then took on dramatic and comedic supporting roles in Robert Rodriguez's Desperado (1995) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). His most sustained television success came with Nash Bridges (CBS, 1996-2001), a San Francisco crime drama in which he co-starred with Don Johnson as Inspector Joe Dominguez; the show ran for six seasons and 122 episodes.1 Other notable film appearances from the period include Tin Cup (1996) alongside Kevin Costner.
In the 2000s Marin joined the Spy Kids franchise as Felix Gumm, appearing in all three of Robert Rodriguez's original trilogy installments (2001, 2002, 2003). He also appeared in Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), another Rodriguez production. His voice role as Ramone, the low-rider paint-shop owner in Pixar's Cars (2006), became one of his most recognized parts; he reprised the role in Cars 2 (2011), Cars 3 (2017), and related short films. Additional voice credits include Manuel in Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) and a Corrections Officer in Pixar's Coco (2017).
Chicano art advocacy
Parallel to his entertainment career, Marin built one of the largest private collections of Chicano art in the world, exceeding 700 works. The collection became the foundation of the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture and Industry, which opened on June 18, 2022, in Riverside, California, in partnership with the Riverside Art Museum.2 Marin has committed to donating the full collection to the center.
Ghostbusters II
Marin appeared in Ghostbusters II (1989) as the Dock Supervisor, a port authority official stationed at Pier 34 on the Hudson River.3 On the night of December 30, the Dock Supervisor witnesses the ghost ship of the RMS Titanic materialize at the pier, its spectral passengers disembarking onto the dock. He calls the police to report the incident and delivers the film's deadpan quip: "Well, better late than never."3 The scene was filmed on April 27, 1989, during the final weeks of production.
Personal life
Marin has been married three times. His first marriage to Darlene Morley lasted from 1975 to 1984; they have one child together. His second marriage, to Patti Heid, ran from 1986 to 2009 and produced two children. He married Russian pianist Natasha Rubin on August 8, 2009.1 Marin resides in Malibu, California.
On June 20, 2025, the Los Angeles City Council formally declared "Cheech Marin Day."1
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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"Cheech Marin," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheech_Marin.
"The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheech_Marin_Center_for_Chicano_Art_%26_Culture.
Ghostbusters II (1989), directed by Ivan Reitman. Columbia Pictures.
