Cheech Marin was inspired by his family when playing Joe Dominguez

By: H&I Staff     Posted: August 20, 2021, 3:14PM   

"On this series, all I have to do is open my mouth and my dad comes out."

For 6 seasons, Cheech Marin starred as Inspector Joe Dominguez on Nash Bridges. Together with fellow Inspector Bridges, they chased the bad guys all across San Francisco and created one of the most memorable buddy-cop shows to date.

Prior to the time on Nash Bridges, Marin had been known for a wide variety of roles such as the comedy classic duo series, Cheech and Chong. Joe Dominguez had been one of his first police officer roles, luckily he was familiar with the lifestyle of law enforcement.

Marin himself came from a family of police officers. Growing up in LA, not only was his father a decorated police officer but many of his uncles as well. Coming from a family of cops, he credits his father for inspiring his role as Joe Dominguez.

"The greatest part and this is really ironic, I ended up playing my father," says Marin. "He was a cop for 30 years — LAPD — so I grew up with cops. A couple of my uncles were cops, and all my dad's friends were cops,” said Cheech Marin about his family inspiring his Nash Bridges role.

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