ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612100067
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE HALL INDIANAPOLIS STAR AND NEWS
Full of mirth almost to the point of bliss, Cheech Marin sounds much like the stoned-out hippie he used to play as part of Cheech & Chong.
But the high for Marin (pronounced MARE-in) this time around comes from popularity, not pot.
The stocky comic actor with the elastic face and wide grin is co-starring with Don Johnson in the lighthearted CBS cop show ``Nash Bridges.'' He's also in demand for movies after turns in such films as ``Tin Cup,'' ``Desperado'' and ``From Dusk Til Dawn.''
He's in negotiations to write an inspirational autobiography and has finished recording a second children's album featuring ``Cheech the School Bus Driver.''
``It's just part of my plan to have a fan base from womb to tomb,'' Marin, 50, said with a laugh during a telephone interview from his home in San Francisco. Production of ``Nash Bridges'' was on an unplanned hiatus: Johnson had broken his ankle.
``Actually, Don's leg was cut off,'' Marin deadpanned in his gravelly voice. ``His leg's going out on tour. We can no longer act with it, so we're sending it on an arena tour featuring Don's leg, Elvis' coat and a little recipe book on how to cook it.''
The leg, presumably, not the coat.
Marin loves playing private eye Joe Dominguez, the quick-witted companion to whom cop Nash (Johnson) can turn in a pinch or for comic relief.
``With Joe, I get to play so many emotions, from broadly comic to dramatic and all the shades in-between - it's wonderful,'' Marin said. ``To be able to bring my own kind of intelligence and rhythm to the part, to swing from comedy to drama, is a great thing. Joe is the closest role to myself I've ever played.''
If the pairing of a 1970s counter-culture comedian and a 1990s cop show seems ironic, consider this: Marin's father was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department for 30 years, and his uncle, a detective, was the highest-ranking Chicano on the force at the time he served.
Marin also shares surface parallels with Joe. Joe's happily married to a Swedish woman. In real life, Marin is happily married to a Swedish woman, computer artist Patti Held, and they live with children Carmen, 17, Joey, 11, and Jasmine, 4, in San Francisco when ``Nash Bridges'' is filming.
Likewise, just as Joe is Nash's longtime buddy, Marin and Johnson have known each other for more than 20 years.
``The great thing about Don is he hasn't changed a bit. He's older and wiser like the rest of us, but he's still got that fierce, free spirit. You gotta love the guy.''
They had never worked together until ``Tin Cup,'' this summer's big-screen hit about golf and romance starring Kevin Costner, Johnson and Rene Russo. After doing one scene together, Johnson asked Marin to play his sidekick - musician Marin prefers the term ``harmonizer'' - on ``Nash Bridges.''
By contrast, Marin does not enjoy talking about his previous partner, Tommy Chong. In 1969, they hooked up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and dreamed up new characters, two wasted buddies from East L.A.
Over the next 15 years, Cheech & Chong produced classic stoner comedy bits (``Dave's not here, man''), six gold comedy albums and five comedy movies (beginning with 1978's ``Up in Smoke'').
They broke up, bitterly, after 1984's Cheech & Chong's ``The Corsican Brothers.'' Marin was beginning to chafe against the limitations of their doper characters, while Chong was less willing to explore new avenues. He continued doing stand-up comedy.
Asked if he ever sees Chong now, Marin said quietly, ``Not at all. We went our separate ways. That thing's time has come and gone.''
That said, he's proud of Cheech & Chong's material. ``It's part of American culture,'' he said. (A snatch of their song ``Basketball Jones'' can be heard in the ``Space Jam'' film, starring Michael Jordan.)
But would he feel comfortable letting his own children watch such drug humor?
``My [then 16-year-old] daughter saw `Up in Smoke' for the first time last year - she roared,'' Marin said.
``I think the Cheech & Chong movies are like a Rorschach test. You read into them and take away from them what you understand. Little kids don't understand the drug references; they just see two guys acting dopey - no pun intended.''
His smoke-filled past hasn't kept Marin from becoming a popular children's performer through voice-over roles in ``The Lion King'' (he was a hyena) and last season's Saturday morning cartoon ``Santa Bugito'' (he was a flea), and his bilingual children's recording ``My Name is Cheech, the School Bus Driver.''
The second record (due for release any day now) mixes Cajun, zydeco, Tex Mex, salsa and cowboy music, and Marin can't hide his excitement when he talks about it.
``Music is the truest expression,'' he said. ``It comes straight from the soul. You don't have to show up in costume and learn lines, you just open your mouth and sing.''
Moving from Cheech & Chong to children's shows and records was a logical evolution, according to Marin: ``Those Cheech & Chong albums were like soundtracks to cartoons - without the animation.''
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Cheech Marin (left) and Don Johnson star in ``Nashby CNBBridges,'' airing Friday at 10 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7.|