Eloy Casados

Eloy Phil Casados was hired out of the state employment office as an extra in The Lawyer (1970), directed by Sidney J. Furie. He then was hired full time as stand-in for the leading man. This lucky break started his film making career. While studying Art at the University of New Mexico, he worked in front of and behind the camera on dozens of Hollywood movies shooting in New Mexico. His first SAG role, opposite Robert Forster, came from a walk on audition with the director on the film set of Pieces of Dreams (1970). Casados was in Albuquerque rehearsing with Anthony Quinn when a SAG rep from Hollywood caught up with him. The SAG rep stopped the rehearsal and said Eloy had to join SAG or get off the set. Casados had no idea what SAG was. Quinn found this amusing and arranged for the producers to pay Eloy's SAG initiation fee so they could continue filming. Casados later helped co-found the first New Mexico SAG local. Casados moved to Hollywood in 1975 with the dream of working on a film written by his favorite screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. In 1977, he played the title role in Trumbo's final screenplay, Ishi: The Last of His Tribe (1978). He teamed with Academy Award winning composer Maurice Jarre to narrate an album of the Ishi soundtrack for the American Congress of Indians; for which effort Casados was inducted into the American Cowboy Hall of Fame. Highlights of Casados's career include: was being hired by Universal Studios to read for the part of Tony Montana to audition actors with Brian De Palma for Scarface (1983). Casados played singer Louis Prima in Ron Shelton's film Cobb (1994) and appeared in eight Shelton films. Working internationally in England, he played Squanto in the BBC production of the pilgrim story The New World. He narrated at the Disney Concert Hall with conductor Victor Veneer and the California Philharmonic. A writer, director, editor, camera operator, and artist, he was married with three daughters until his death in 2016.