Editing Cheech Marin (section)

==Early life==
Marin was born on July 13, 1946, in [[South Los Angeles]], [[California]], to [[Mexican Americans|Mexican]] parents Elsa ({{née|Meza}}; 1923–2010), a secretary, and Oscar Marin (1922–2015), a police officer for the [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] and [[US Navy]] veteran of [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite news | first=Candace A. | last=Wedlan |date=May 10, 1999 | title=Whatever Works / CHEECH MARIN; A Comic Axed by His Own Club |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/421380322 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314152154/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/421380322.html?FMT=&FMTS=&type=current&date=&author=&pub=&edition=&startpage=&desc= |at=Southern California Living section, PART-E, page 1 |access-date=March 13, 2017| url-status=live | archive-date=March 14, 2017 | id={{ProQuest|421380322}} }} {{subscription required}}</ref> Marin was born with a [[cleft lip and palate|cleft lip]], which was surgically repaired. Marin identifies as [[Chicano]]; he speaks some [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and often uses it in his movies.<ref name="what-is-a-chicano">{{Cite web|url=http://cheechmarin.com/what-is-a-chicano/|title=What is a Chicano?|date=May 3, 2012|website=Cheech Marin}}</ref><ref name="the-bend-interview">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thebendmag.com/2018/01/11/164593/sophisticated-and-naive-a-conversation-with-cheech-marin|title=Sophisticated and Naive: A Conversation with Cheech Marin {{pipe}} The Bend Magazine|website=www.thebendmag.com|date=January 11, 2018 }}</ref>

Marin's nickname "Cheech" is short for "[[chicharrón]]", fried [[pork rind]], which is a popular snack and ingredient in [[Latin American cuisine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comedycouch.com/interviews/cmarin.htm |title=The Comedy Couch – Cheech Marin Interview |publisher=The Comedy Couch |date=July 10, 2006 |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref> In a 2017 NPR interview, Marin attributed the nickname to his uncle: "I came home from the hospital, I was like a couple of days old or something, my uncle came over and he looked in the crib and he said [in Spanish], 'Ay, parece un chicharrón.' Looks like a little chicharrón, you know?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/03/13/519653517/cheech-marin-on-how-his-famed-comic-collaboration-was-like-chicano-ar |title=Cheech Marin On How His Famed Comic Collaboration Was Like Chicano Art |publisher=National Public Radio - Morning Edition |date=March 13, 2017|access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>

While he lived in South Central, he attended Trinity Street Elementary School.<ref>{{cite video| people  = | date = 2017-03-28| title = An Evening with Cheech Marin| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOaW0KN6l0o| format = YouTube| access-date  = 2025-05-23}}</ref> In 1955, Marin and his family moved to [[Granada Hills, California]], and he attended primary school at St. John Baptist de la Salle Catholic School. Marin then went to high school at [[Bishop Alemany High School]], during which he started to attend folk music events at the [[Ash Grove (music club)|Ash Grove]] on [[Melrose Avenue]] as a teenager. Afterwards, he studied at [[California State University, Northridge]] (then known as San Fernando Valley State College), where he was a member of [[Phi Sigma Kappa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/university-news/alum-cheech-marin-and-csuns-harry-gamboa-featured-in-french-art-exhibit/|title=Alum "Cheech" Marin and CSUN's Harry Gamboa Featured in French Art Exhibit|date=June 30, 2014|website=CSUN Today|language=en-US|access-date=January 28, 2020}}</ref> During his second semester at CSUN, he worked almost full-time at Nordskog Industries in [[Van Nuys]], while enrolled more than full-time as a college student. It was also during this time that he was socially introduced to marijuana through his fraternity, a key feature in his later film career, in addition to becoming acquainted with [[Timothy Leary]] at a [[Students for a Democratic Society]] campus event, who would become a lifelong friend. Soon after graduating CSUN as an English major in 1968, he auditioned to sing for [[Frank Zappa]]'s band, [[The Mothers of Invention]]. Not being offered the gig during his audition, a day later Marin moved to [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], in order to [[Draft evasion in the Vietnam War|evade the draft]] during the [[Vietnam War]], influenced by the draft evasion movement formed by [[David Harris (activist)|David Harris]].<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Greasy Love Songs |title-link=Greasy Love Songs |others=Frank Zappa |year=2009 |first=Cheech |last=Marin |publisher=[[Zappa Records]]}}</ref> After suffering from a skiing accident, he recovered  for six months at a [[Banff, Alberta|Banff]] residence that only had one vinyl record, [[Love Child (The Supremes album)|Love Child]], by the Supremes. Included on that album was the cover song "Does Your Mama Know About Me", co-written by [[Tommy Chong]]. Marin eventually met his future comedic partner, Chong, in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Eric |last=Volmers |date=January 24, 2016 |title=Tommy Chong Talks Comedy, Pot, Politics and His Days as a ''Calgary Herald'' Paperboy |url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/local-arts/tommy-chong-talks-comedy-pot-politics-and-his-days-as-a-calgary-herald-paper-boy |work=[[Calgary Herald]] |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref>