Born on February 17, 1929, Alejandro Jodorowsky is associated with two Chilean birthplaces, Tocopilla and Iquique, with sources differing on which town was his place of origin. He was educated at the University of Chile and holds both Chilean and French citizenship. He has worked in Spanish and in French across the course of his career.

Jodorowsky has practiced across an exceptionally broad range of disciplines, including film directing, screenwriting, film producing, acting, playwriting, mime, poetry, philosophy, composition, and visual art, as well as comics writing and comics illustration. Throughout his work, he has maintained an association with the avant-garde movement. Among his films, he is noted for El Topo and The Holy Mountain. In the field of comics, he is noted for The Incal.

The honors Jodorowsky has received span several fields and several countries. He received the Yellow Kid Award and has been recognized with the Officer of Arts and Letters. He also received the Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit and the Leopard of Honour.

Jodorowsky holds Chilean and French citizenship and has worked in both Spanish and French. His noted works include El Topo, The Holy Mountain, and The Incal, and his practice has remained connected to the avant-garde across multiple creative disciplines.