- Although often thought to be Hispanic, he was actually a Mescalero Apache.
- Diaz was a famous LAPD homicide detective--he was one of the first officers on the scene of Marilyn Monroe's suicide--who retired to become a familiar character actor.
- He was a real-life cop in the 1950s; he worked for 5 years on the narcotics squad in Los Angeles when his wife (Dorothy Abbott) landed a role on Dragnet (1951). Two of his cases were dramatized on Dragnet (1951) and led to his future in television.
- Served in the Army as a paratrooper.
- First wife Dorothy Abbott, an actress, died by suicide in 1968.
- Became an actor after he retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967. As an ethnic character actor, he also played American Indians frequently.
- He had a son, Ronald R. Diaz, with his first wife, Dorothy Abbott.
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