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Lou Diamond Phillips

His talent and exotic looks grabbed attention in the late 1980s, but Lou Diamond Phillips was unable to capitalize on his early career momentum. Soaring to success as the star of the popular Ritchie Valens biopic "La Bamba" (1987), Phillips won an Independent Spirit Award and a Golden Globe nomination for his role as a teen gang member in the powerful "Stand and Deliver"(1988). While he enjoyed mainstream success with the Brat Pack smash "Young Guns" (1988), Phillips faded as a box office star - although the notoriety of his wife Julie Cypher leaving him for Melissa Etheridge earned him unwanted headlines. Phillips continued to work, earning a Tony nomination for the lead role in Broadway's "The King and I" and serious critical attention with a role in "Courage Under Fire" (1996) alongside Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington. His bread-and-butter, however, remained guest-starring roles and indie film work. Although he charmed viewers enough to win the game show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me out of Here!" (NBC, 2009), the actor once again garnered critical acclaim for his role as bar owner Henry Standing Bear on the well-received crime-drama "Longmire" (A&E, 2012- ). While Phillips' circuitous career trajectory exemplified Hollywood's inadequacy in fully utilizing actors of ethnicity, his persistence and undeniable screen presence kept him very much in the game.