After his father's death, he was adopted by his stepfather and his surname was changed to Phillips. Phillips was named after the US Marine Leland 'Lou' Diamond. His father was an American of Scots-Irish and Cherokee descent. Phillips was born February 17, 1962, at the Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines, the son of Lucita Umayam Aranas and Gerald Amon Upchurch (1935–1963), a Marine KC-130 crew chief. He played New York City Police Lieutenant Gil Arroyo on Prodigal Son on FOX from 2019 to 2021. In the television series Longmire, he played a main character named Henry Standing Bear.
Phillips' other notable films include Young Guns (1988), Young Guns II (1990), Courage Under Fire (1996), The Big Hit (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), Che (2008), and The 33 (2015). Phillips made his Broadway debut with the 1996 revival of The King and I, earning a Tony Award nomination for his portrayal of King Mongkut of Siam. For Stand and Deliver (1988), Phillips was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won an Independent Spirit Award. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film La Bamba (1987). Louis Diamond Phillips ( born Upchurch February 17, 1962) is a Filipino-American actor and film director.
