Celso Chavez

Celso Ricardo Chavez was born at the Fort Bliss United States Army Post in El Paso, Texas. His father Celso Rafael Chavez was a 1st Lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) and served with "Charlie" Company in the Vietnam War. His mother Maria Antonietta Casillas was a school teacher. Maria Casillas moved her two sons to the San Fernando Valley where she began hosting a local Los Angeles television show called, "L.A. Kid". The show was a moderate success and Maria met director/producer Alejandro Grattan. The director put the ten-year old Celso in his film Only Once in a Lifetime (1979) and became a mentor to young Celso. By the 1980's, Celso was playing drums and guitar in local punk bands, including Trash Can School and Black Angel's Death Song. By 1989 he was playing guitar for the band Possum Dixon, fronted by college buddy Rob Zabrecky. The band released three albums on Interscope Records and at the height of their popularity they were featured on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993). The band also recorded a song for the film Showgirls (1995), "Emergency's About To End". Celso began having substance abuse problems during this time in Possum Dixon, and went through drug arrests and several rehabs through the 1990's. In one rehab stay, he met actor Nick Gillie, who was writing a screenplay about his experiences in a drug rehabilitation house in West Los Angeles. The screenplay was produced by John Cusack and was filmed as Never Get Outta the Boat (2002). Celso had initially auditioned for the lead role of Cesar, which was a character loosely based on himself. He lost the role to Lombardo Boyar, but Celso can still be seen in the film in a small cameo. Celso Chavez died on May 9, 2012 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California due to complications from pneumonia and a staph infection. These conditions were exasperated by chronic intravenous drug use. He was cremated and interred at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.