Danny Trejo took to social media Wednesday to celebrate a major milestone, 55 years of sobriety.
The 79-year-old actor shared the news on X, formerly Twitter.
“‘I’m 55 years clean and sober today by the grace of God! I’ve done this one day at a time, and for anyone out there struggling YOU CAN TOO!” he wrote.
During his younger years Trejo spent a lot of his time in and out of youth detention centers in California.At one point he found himself potentially facing the death penalty after he threw a rock that hit a guard in the head.
“I went to the hole looking at three gas-chamber offenses. After the Cinco de Mayo riots at San Quentin, in 1968, they said I threw a rock and hit the lieutenant in the head but you know what? I did hit him in the head with a rock. But I wasn’t throwing it at him, I was throwing it at a group of guys and he happened to be hit,” he told The Guardian in 2012.
“So we all had gas-chamber offenses, and we were taken to the hole and I remember saying: ‘God, if you’re there, everything will turn out the way it’s supposed to. If you’re not, I’m f***ed.’ “
I’m 55 years clean and sober today by the grace of God! I’ve done this one day at a time, and for anyone out there struggling YOU CAN TOO! pic.twitter.com/iQvYKW2VkR
— Danny Trejo (@officialDannyT) August 23, 2023
It was that moment he decided to change his life for the better.
“I dedicated my life right there, and it wasn’t to get out of it because I knew there wasn’t any getting out of it. I just wanted it to end with some dignity.”
Trejo was paroled in 1969 – the charges against him were dropped on a technicality – and he began his journey to sobriety.
“I discovered AA and Narcotics Anonymous. My sponsor took me to a program called RIF – Recover, Independence and Freedom – working with teen drug addicts.”
In 1985, one of the kids he mentored called asking for help. When Trejo arrived at the scene it was a film set. He was immediately recognized and hired to train Eric Roberts how to box for the film Runaway Train.
After Runaway Train, the job offers didn’t stop.
Even after decades in Hollywood, Trejo has managed to remain sober.