Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin parted ways from the stoner comedies by the mid-1980s. Marin began to take on more dramatic roles, one of which revealed an ironic part of his upbringing. In 1996, he began playing a San Francisco cop on the CBS show “Nash Bridges.” Despite the lawless marijuana-smoking nature of his films with Chong, Marin took to the role as a cop rather easily. According to the Chicago Tribune, Marin’s father and uncles were members of the Los Angeles Police Department when Marin was a child. “I grew up with cops,” he explained. “On this series, all I have to do is open my mouth and my dad comes out.” The show ran successfully for six seasons.
Marin’s father was not any ordinary cop either. He became the highest-ranked Hispanic detective during his 30 years in the LAPD. Marin was born in Los Angeles. He and his family first lived in a dangerous part of the city during the first few years of his childhood before moving to LA’s northern San Fernando valley (via Biography).
