Diane Rodriguez, 68, of San Jose : Champion of theater and artists of color

Diane Rodriguez, a celebrated stage artist, passionate for the work of Latino and Latina artists and former associate artistic director of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, died Friday. She was 68.

Rodriguez, who had been part of the artistic staff of Center Theater Group for 24 years and had worked with other companies across the country, died of cancer, former colleagues said.

During her career, she performed in, directed or produced projects with top artists, including playwrights Luis Valdez and Young Jean Lee and the group Culture Clash.

“Diane was an incredibly disciplined artist, with equal talent as a writer, director and actor,” said CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. “But she was never more animated than when she was advocating for the work of other artists. The arts community mourns the loss of a leader and advocate for accessibility, inclusion and community.”

After studying theater at UC Santa Barbara, Rodriguez became a leading actress for 10 seasons with the groundbreaking theater company El Teatro Campesino, the Farmworkers’ Theater where Valdez was founder and artistic director. Rodriguez also was a co-founder of the comedy troupe Latins Anonymous.

“Diane Rodriguez was an unforgettable and beloved member of the family of El Teatro Campesino,” Valdez said. “We remember her from her earliest days as a professional artist in the ’70s, when she became a vital and indispensable part of our core company.”

“Her power as an artist came from the heart, which she shared onstage as well as in life, by generating the collective spirit that creates theater. The arc of her evolution as an artist and as a representative of the American theater will give hope and inspiration to new generations of theater artists.”

As associate artistic director at CTG, Rodriguez had overseen the production of new plays and had helped developed the work of more than 75 artists, playwrights and companies.

Her projects included “Straight White Men” by Lee, “The White Album” by Lars Jan and “Venice Is Dead” by Roger Guenveur Smith and Richard Montoya, the latter a member of Culture Clash.

Born June 22, 1951, in San Jose, Rodriguez said being a Latina had shaped her creative direction.

“I was going to go to graduate school,” she said in the NEA interview. “I applied to California Institute of the Arts, and I got turned down. The alternative was to join El Teatro Campesino — that was the best thing that ever happened to me. It opened my eyes to possibility, but it also rooted me in home, and in where I came from. It rooted me in the fields that my parents worked in, in the canneries that my mother toiled in as we were growing up.”

She added, “I never forgot the roots that I came from as I was launched into the world. Even now, even when I’m not necessarily doing Latino-specific work, those roots keep me anchored.”

Rodiguez is survived by her husband, Jose Delgado; her mother, Helen E. Rodriguez; her niece Gabrielle E. Fusco and nephew Mario J. Fusco; and brother-in-law Gary Fusco.