
Luis Contreras
Actor · 1950 – 2004 · San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tall, lean, and wiry, 6-foot-4 Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor. The son of Euro-Indigenous Latino American character actor, Roberto Contreras. Luis Contreras was born on September 18, 1950. Lean and wiry, often sporting a mass of curly hair and drooping mustache, with his piercing dark eyes and angular face Contreras ranged between portraying various criminals and police officers. Contreras made his film debut as a Federale in Steven Spielberg's wonderful science fiction classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." He also popped up as a zoot suiter in Spielberg's hilarious all-star comedy "1941." Contreras frequently acted in movies for director Walter Hill: "The Long Riders," "48 HRS.,""Extreme Prejudice," "Red Heat," "Geronimo: An American Legend," and "Last Man Standing." Contreras was especially memorable as a grocery store security guard in the cult classic sci-fi black comedy "Repo Man," the vicious ringleader of a gang of cocaine cowboys in "Stand Alone," a hostile eye-patched biker in the delightfully madcap "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and a deranged homeless man who terrorizes a trio of teenage girls in the "A Night on the Town" episode of the hugely enjoyable horror anthology "After Midnight." Contreras also did guest appearances on the TV shows "CHiPs," "Quincy M.E.," "T.J. Hooker," "Knight Rider," "Riptide," "Hill Street Blues," "Simon & Simon," "Night Court," "Hunter," "Matlock," and "Carnivale", regularly working through the 1970s and 1980s. Luis Contreras died of cancer at the tragically young age of 53 on June 20, 2004.
Movies24
Movie8.2CrimeDramaBased on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It opens in 1972, as the three are members of an East L.A. gang known as the "Vatos Locos", and the story focuses on how a violent crime and the influence of narcotics alter their lives. Miklo is incarcerated and sent to San Quentin, where he makes a "home" for himself. Cruz becomes an exceptional artist, but a heroin addiction overcomes him with tragic results. Paco becomes a cop and an enemy to his "carnal", Miklo.
Bound by Honor
1993 · 1.6K votes
Movie7.4Science FictionDramaAfter an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977 · 4.8K votes
Movie6.7CrimeActionA hard-nosed cop reluctantly teams up with a wise-cracking criminal temporarily paroled to him, in order to track down a killer.
48 Hrs.
1982 · 1.8K votes
Movie6.2ActionCrimeA tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
Red Heat
1988 · 1.7K votes
Movie6.4ActionCrimeJohn Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.
Last Man Standing
1996 · 1K votes
Movie6.5ComedyAdventureThe eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
1985 · 878 votes
Movie5.8ComedyWarIn the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, panic grips California, where a military officer leads a mob chasing a Japanese sub.
1941
1979 · 735 votes
Movie6.7ComedyScience FictionA down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.
Repo Man
1984 · 705 votes
Movie6.1ComedyCrimeTwo street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer that nearly killed them in the past.
Running Scared
1986 · 259 votes
Movie6.6WesternActionThe origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.
The Long Riders
1980 · 296 votes
Movie6.3WesternHistoryThe Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.
Geronimo: An American Legend
1993 · 310 votes
Movie6.0ActionCrimeJeb Maynard is a patrolman guarding the U.S.-Mexican border, whose partner and buddy Scooter has just been murdered. Maynard knows that a smuggler of illegal aliens is responsible for Scooter's death, but the feds insist that drug dealers committed the crime.
Borderline
1980 · 57 votes
Movie4.7ActionComedyShep Ramsey is an interstellar hero, righting wrongs, etc. His ship is damaged after a fight with an interstellar nasty and he must hide out on Earth until it can recharge. He leaves his power suit at home, but still finds himself unable to allow wrongs to go unrighted and so mixes it up with bad drivers, offensive paperboys, muggers and the like.
Suburban Commando
1991 · 208 votes
Movie6.5DramaHistoryWilliam Walker and his mercenary corps enter Nicaragua in the middle of the 19th century in order to install a new government by a coup d'etat.
Walker
1987 · 92 votes
Movie6.3ActionThrillerLean, mean Texas Ranger Jack Benteen locks horns with a former friend, Cash Bailey, now a ruthless drug kingpin. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, they share a love interest in the sensual Sarita. When a crew of rogue soldiers descends upon the border town for an off-the-books mission, all roads lead to a bloody, to-the-death showdown, as loyalties shift and the lines between good and evil are blurred.
Extreme Prejudice
1987 · 203 votes
Movie5.7ThrillerHorrorA college professor teaching a course called "The Psychology of Fear" brings his students (including a psychic) to his home, one dark and stormy night to tell scary stories. The first involves a young couple whose car breaks down by an old, abandoned house. The second has four trendy teenage girls getting lost in a bad part of town and chased by a pack of vicious dogs. Last, a woman on crutches confronting a stalker at the answering service where she works the night shift.
After Midnight
1989 · 64 votes
Movie5.7CrimeMysteryTom Mix and Wyatt Earp team up to solve a murder at the Academy Awards in 1929 Hollywood.
Sunset
1988 · 116 votes
Movie6.2ActionComedyNeeding a new partner capable of intricate cons, Richard Gaddis, recruits Rodrigo, a crook with a perfect poker face. The two plan a big-time scam: selling a fake Silver Certificate to currency collector William Hannigan. Rodrigo distrusts his new associate, but needs money to help out his ill father. The situation becomes more complicated when Rodrigo falls for Gaddis' sister, Valerie, drawing another player into the game.
Criminal
2004 · 160 votes
Movie5.9WesternActionKarl Westover, an inexperienced farm boy, runs away after unintentionally killing a neighbor, whose family pursues him for vengeance. He meets Barbarosa, a gunman of near-mythical proportions, who is himself in danger from his father-in-law Don Braulio, a wealthy Mexican rancher. Don Braulio wants Barbarosa dead for marrying his daughter against the father's will. Barbarosa reluctantly takes the clumsy Karl on as a partner, as both of them look to survive the forces lining up against them.
Barbarosa
1982 · 47 votes
Movie4.2DramaTV MovieAmong the backdrop of 1950s Los Angeles, Johnny, a working-class hoodlum caught up with a ring of car thieves, is floored when he meets Laura, a rich girl riding in a hot set of wheels. But nothing can prepare these teenage lovebirds for the head-on collision of cultures that results from their passion-fueled, high-octane relationship.
Dragstrip Girl
1994 · 6 votes
Movie4.8Science FictionActionBrick Bardo is a traveller from outer space who is forced to land on Earth. Though regular sized on his home planet, he is doll-sized here on Earth, as are the enemy forces who have landed as well. While Brick enlists the help of an impoverished girl and her son, the bad guys enlist the help of a local gang. When word leaks out as to his location, and all hell breaks loose, Brick is besieged by an onslaught of curious kids, angry gang members, and his own doll-sized enemies, and he must protect the family who has helped him and get off the planet alive.
Dollman
1991 · 99 votes
Movie5.4ComedyCrimeLeonard Hoffman is an insurance salesman struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he has triplet sons who all want to go to Yale isn't making things any easier. Blanche Rickey is also worried about money; her husband is a millionaire with a weak heart, and she worries that he'll blow through all his cash before he finally dies. When Blanche meets Leonard, she devises a murderous plan that she claims will fix both their problems.
Big Trouble
1986 · 43 votes
Movie4.4ComedyJeff and Mari Thompson are contently married, but they are stunned to see many of their friends and neighbors going through separations and divorces. Seemingly surrounded by people with domestic problems, Jeff and Mari begin to question their own relationship.
The Last Married Couple in America
1980 · 14 votes
Movie5.6DramaAn exploration of the relationship between Beat Generation writers Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, and Cassady's wife, Carolyn.
Heart Beat
1980 · 22 votes
Series16
TV7.5Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyMichael Long, an undercover police officer, is shot while investigating a case and left for dead by his assailants. He is rescued by Wilton Knight, a wealthy, dying millionaire and inventor who arranges life-saving surgery, including a new face and a new identity--that of Michael Knight. Michael is then given a special computerized and indestructible car called the Knight Industries Two Thousand (nicknamed KITT), and a mission: apprehend criminals who are beyond the reach of the law. The series depicts Michael's exploits as he and KITT battle the forces of evil on behalf of the Foundation for Law and Government.
Knight Rider
1982 · 1.5K votes
TV7.5CrimeDramaLos Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976 · 123 votes
TV7.3ComedyAn eccentric fun-loving judge presides over an urban night court and all the silliness going on there.
Night Court
1984 · 149 votes
TV5.5SoapDramaFalcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane Wyman starred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following the death of his father. The series was set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley northeast of San Francisco.
Falcon Crest
1981 · 64 votes
TV7.1Action & AdventureDramaHunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.
Hunter
1984 · 102 votes
TV6.5DramaCrimeSergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recruits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.
T. J. Hooker
1982 · 98 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeThrifty, folksy and cantankerous, Matlock charges a premium for his services but is worth every penny: This renowned attorney, always clothed in his trademark light-gray suit and driving his signature Ford Crown Victoria, has an uncanny knack for finding overlooked clues and exposing murderers in dramatic courtroom scenes.
Matlock
1986 · 143 votes
TV7.6Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyAs part of a deal with an intelligence agency to look for his missing brother, a renegade pilot goes on missions with an advanced battle helicopter.
Airwolf
1984 · 497 votes
TV6.7DramaA.J. Simon is a polished fellow with a taste for classic cars and tailored suits. Rick Simon is his less refined (but still pleasant) older brother who has a taste for cowboy boots and four-wheel drive pickups. The two of them live in San Diego, where they own a private detective agency.
Simon & Simon
1981 · 99 votes
TV7.9Sci-Fi & FantasyMysteryCarnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes Christian theology with gnosticism and Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar.
Carnivàle
2003 · 470 votes
TV6.8DramaAction & AdventureLighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.
CHiPs
1977 · 154 votes
TV7.1WesternComedyA tough-as-rawhide cowpoke, debonair ladies' man and Harvard-educated smarty-britches roams from Frisco to Jalisco in pursuit of outlaws who killed his father...and in search of a mysterious orb possessing out-of-this world powers. Hot lead and cool anachronisms await Brisco as he and his sidekicks - including Comet, the intellectual equine who doesn't know he's a horse - fight for justice in the way, way, way-out West.
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
1993 · 100 votes
TV7.4Action & AdventureDramaIn a backwater corner of the South Pacific in 1938, a young American adventurer and his ragtag group of friends become involved in death-defying hi-jinx, transporting people-on-the-run in a well-worn Grumman Goose seaplane.
Tales of the Gold Monkey
1982 · 29 votes
TV8.8DramaLong-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · 8 votes
TV7.5DramaCrimeWes Kennedy is a cop who works long hours at night in order to spend the daytime with his two teenage kids Robin and Kevin... Heart of the City was a crime drama that aired on the ABC television network from September 1986 to January 1987.
Heart of the City
1986 · 2 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeIke Porter, a middle-aged deputy chief in charge of public relations, decides to leave his desk job to become a street cop.
The Oldest Rookie
1987 · 3 votes