Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez (December 31, 1930 – March 30, 2010) was a Bolivian educator well known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles, California. Escalante was the subject of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, in which he is portrayed by Edward James Olmos.

Escalante was born December 31, 1930 in La Paz, Bolivia. In 1974 he began teaching at Garfield High School. Escalante was initially so disheartened by the lack of preparation of his students that he called his former employer and asked for his old job back. Escalante eventually changed his mind about returning to work when he found 12 students willing to take an algebra class.

Shortly after Escalante came to Garfield High, its accreditation became threatened. Instead of gearing classes to poorly performing students, Escalante offered AP Calculus. He had already earned the criticism of an administrator who disapproved of his requiring the students to answer a homework question before being allowed into the classroom. "He told me to just get them inside," Escalante reported, "but I said, there is no teaching, no learning going on".^{[citation needed]}

Amat Escalante (born 28 February 1979 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Mexican director, producer and screenwriter known for his films Sangre and Los Bastardos.

Escalante has spent the majority of his life in Guanajuato, Mexico, though he was born in Barcelona, Spain. He came back to Barcelona to study motion picture editing and sound at the Centre of Cinematographic Studies in Catalunya. Later on he studied at the International School of Film and Television in Cuba. In 2003, he received an award at the Berlin Film Festival for his short film Amarrados. His 2005 film Sangre was included in the section Un Certain Regard at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It was also presented at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the San Sebastian Film Festival. He is a close friend and collaborator of Carlos Reygadas.

Mara Escalante (born circa 1972) is a Mexican actress, comedienne and singer, best known as the star of the Televisa sitcom Maria de todos los angeles, in which she portrays three roles, including the title role. Escalante's career dates to the mid-1990s.

A native of Mexico City and an UNAM and Instituto Andres Soler alum, Escalante first received international fame as a stand-up comedienne, developing such characters as Nancy Aerobics, Chu-Ly (La Princesa Dragon), Dona Lucha, and Liboria, a female police officer.

Her international appeal took her from several Televisa series such as Humor es...los comediantes, Al ritmo de la noche, Al fin de semana and Otro rollo to television programs in other Spanish-speaking countries, including the Venezuelan talk show Viviana a la medianoche as well as a TV special in Spain. Most of her Televisa appearances, as well as her appearance on Viviana a la medianoche, have aired on the Univision network in the United States. In 2008 she joined the Televisa team at the Beijing Olympics, performing comedy during network coverage, thus making her the first Mexican comic to visit China. She has also performed in the United States and other Latin American countries.

Bituin Escalante (born April 23, 1977), better known as Bituin, is a Filipina singer and host. She is a well-known Philippine Diva and a power-belter.

She first gained popularity during the 2000 Metropop Song Festival with her interpretation of the song "Paano Na" written by Arnold Reyes making the song the festival's second prize winner. With a wowed audience on her first singing appearance, Bituin made rose to diva stardom and secured her spot as one of Philippines' best female vocals during the 2002 Himig Handog Music Love Song Festival with her interpretation of "Kung Ako na Lang Sana", the grand prize winner.

Bituin Escalante was born on April 23, 1977 in San Juan, Metro Manila and is the daughter of former Ambivalent Crowd soloist and visual artist Gigi Escalante.

Bituin rose to popularity after her first appearance in the 2000 Metropop Song Festival with her interpretation of "Paano Na", written by Arnold Reyes where she bagged the festival's second prize. In the following year, Bituin won awards as a new artist in the Philippine music industry.