Lalo Rios: Mexican American Movie Pioneer

Lalo Rios may not be a familiar name to many these days, but he was a pioneering Mexican American actor. In the space of two years, he appeared in two movies dealing with the Chicano experience, playing a central role in The Lawless (1950) and, for all extents and purposes, the lead role in The Ring (1952). His career never quite took off, but he remains a truly groundbreaking Chicano actor.

Lalo Rios was born on February 7, 1927, in San Miguelito, Sonora, Mexico. He was nine years old when his family moved to East Los Angeles. He attended Albion Elementary School and Lincoln High School. Following high school, he became a carpenter in the heavy construction industry. 

It was through actor Don James that Lalo Rios would find his way into acting. Don James and his wife had been hired to stage a Christmas play with a social club of young Mexican American American men and women 18 to 20 years old. One of the young men in the club, Lalo Rios, became close friends with Don James. Don James thought Lalo Rios had real talent, so that when he heard director Joseph Losey was making a film centered on Mexican American, The Lawless (1950), he contacted the director and told him to take a look at Lalo Rios. 

The Lawless (1950) centred on a newspaper editor (MacDonald Carey), who finds himself at odds with his small town with regards to the local Mexican American fruit pickers, particularly when one of them, Paul Rodriguez (Lalo Rios), finds himself in trouble. While Lalo Rios was sixth billed in The Lawless (1950), given the amount of screen time he has and how pivotal Paul Rodriguez is to the plot, he could very nearly be considered one of the leads. What is more, while Lalo Rios had never acted in a movie before, he got good notices from critics for his portrayal of Paul Rodriguez.

Following The Lawless (1950), Lalo Rios appeared in minor roles in such films as The Law and the Lady (1951), Untamed Frontier (1952), and One Minute to Zero (1952). It was in 1952 that The Ring was released. While Lalo Rios was billed after Gerald Mohr and Rita Moreno, he was for all extents and purposes the film's star. The movie centred on centred on young Mexican American  Tomas Cantanios who takes up boxing in an effort to make something better of himself. The Ring (1952) is notable for its portrayal of racism against Chicanos, including the segregation that existed in Los Angeles at the time and for its utter lack of stereotypes. In his book Viva Hollywood: The Legacy of Latin and Hispanic Artists in American Film, author Luis I. Reyes writes of Lalo Rios's character in The Ring (1950), "In The Ring, Rios could e regarded as Hollywood's first Latino working-class rebel, as he expressed postwar concerns that developed into the Chicano (Mexican American) civil rights movement of the 1960s. His character is a progenitor of the teenage antihero that James Dean played in Rebel Without a Cause."

Unfortunately Lalo Rios would never again play a role as big as that of Tomas Cantanios in The Ring (1952). He had minor roles in City Beneath the Sea (1953) Big Leaguer (1953), and Prisoner of War (1954) before appearing as Risto, the hot-headed member of the Grandi crime family who throws a bottle of acid at protagonist Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) in Touch of Evil (1958). Touch of Evil (1958) would be his last significant appearance in a movie. Afterwards, he appeared in very minor roles in films: one of Calvera's henchmen in The Magnificent Seven (1960), a prisoner in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), and a solder in Villa Rides (1968).

It was during the Fifties that Lalo Rios's acting career turned increasingly to television. He made his television debut in an episode of The Unexpected in 1952. As might be expected. he appeared in several Westerns, including Frontier Doctor, Overland Trail, Tate, Gunsmoke, Laredo, and The High Chaparral. He appeared as gangster Tony Diaz in the two-part Untouchables episode "The Big Train." His final appearance on television was in an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D.

Even as his acting career was unfolding, Lalo Rios continued to work as a carpenter in the construction industry. It was while he was working on a construction job that he was injured in an accident that limited his mobility. As if being a Chicano in Hollywood wasn't hard enough, this made it even more difficult to find acting jobs. 

While Lalo Rios only had a few significant roles in movies and on television, he remains an important figure in the history of Chicanos in movies. Years before the Chicano Movement began, he appeared in movies that addressed racism against Mexican Americans and played characters who would have a lasting impact on Mexican Americans on film. There can be no argument on the significance of The Lawless and The Ring in history of Chicano films, and it is largely Lalo Rios's performances in those films that made them what they are. 

Godspeed Frank Beard of ZZ Top

Frank Beard, the drummer for rock band ZZ Top, died on August 17, 2026, at the age of 77. 

Frank Beard was born on June 11, 1949, in Frankston, Texas. He grew up in Irving, Texas. He met future ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill as teens when their bands were both playing in Fort Worth. He later played with Dusty Hill and Dusty Hill's brother Rocky Hill in the band American Blues. It following the release of ZZ Top's debut single, "Salt Lick," that Frank Beard replaced the band's original drummer, Dan Mitchell. Dusty Hill would replace the band's bassist Lanier Grieg not that long afterwards.

It was not long after Dusty Hill joined ZZ Top that they signed with London Records. Their debut album, ZZ Top's First Album, was released in 1971. Their single "Francine," from their second album Rio Grande Mud, became their first to break the Billboard Hot 100. "Tush," from their fourth album Fandango, went to no. 20 on the chart. For many years, it remained their highest charting single.

ZZ Top would reach the peak of their career years after the classic line-up of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard came together. Their album Eliminator went to no. 9 on the Billboard album chart in 1984. The album also produced the hit singles "Gimme All Your Lovin,," "Sharp Dressed Man," and "Legs." Their albums continued to perform well throughout the remainder of the Eighties. In all, they released 15 studio albums and four live albums. Their last album was Goin' 50 in 2019. 

ZZ Top is unusual among rock bands in having a very stable lineup for most of its history. The lineup of Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard remained in place for over 50 years. n 2010 Dusty Hill summed up the band's stability to Classic Rock by simply saying, "“It’s a cliché and sounds so simplistic, but it’s down to the three of us genuinely enjoying playing together."

There can be no doubt that much of ZZ Top's success was due to Frank Beard. He had perfect timing and his style tended to minimalist, focusing on the song he was playing at the time rather than percussive pyrotechnics. As a result, his drumming complimented Billy Gibbon's guitar and Dusty Hill's bass perfectly. 

The Monkees Is Now on Tubi

Long-time readers of this blog know that The Monkees is my favourite sitcom of all time and The Monkees are one of my favourite bands of all time. I am then very happy to report that for the first time ever The Monkees is on streaming. As of August 15, 2026, the entire run of The Monkees is now on Tubi. The Monkees is also available on the over-the-top streaming service Philo and currently airs on the digital broadcast network Catchy Comedy every Saturday morning.

The Monkees debuted on NBC on September 12, 1966 and aired for two seasons. In September 1969, CBS added reruns of The Monkees to its Saturday morning lineup. It remained there until September 1973, when it moved to ABC's Saturday morning lineup. The show finally went into local syndication in the fall of 1975. In 1986, MTV held a marathon of Monkees episodes. The marathon received such a huge response that MTV began regularly airing The Monkees. This saw an upsurge in local stations picking the series up, as well the show joining the Nick At Nite lineup. Since then it has aired on IFC, MeTV, FeTV, and AXS TV. Rhino Home Entertainment released The Monkees on DVD in May 2001 and the first and second seasons as box sets in November 2003. It was released on Blu-ray in July 2016.

Even though I have owned The Monkees on DVD for years, I am still happy to see it added to Tubi and Philo. Each new exposure of The Monkees has created a new generation of fans, from when it aired on Saturday mornings to when it first entered syndication to when it aired on MTV and so on. I suspect that in streaming on Tubi it will create yet another generation of fans. This is good news for me as a life-long Monkees fan, as successive generations of fans mean that the show will continue to air on television, to stream on various service, and continue to remain in print on DVD and Blu-ray.

"Sharp Dressed Man" by ZZ Top

I don't feel up to a full post today, but I will be writing a eulogy for ZZ Top's drummer Frank Beard, who died on August 17, 2026. With that in mind, I will leave you with what might be ZZ Top's most successful single, "Sharp Dressed Man."