Luke Askew est un acteur américain né le 26 mars 1932 à Macon (Géorgie) et mort le 29 mars 2012 à Portland (Oregon).

Après avoir été militaire dans l'US Air Force, Luke Askew devient comédien et débute au cinéma en 1967. Deux ans plus tard, il est remarqué dans Easy Rider où il interprète le chef de la communauté hippie. Il poursuit ensuite une longue carrière d'acteur de seconds rôles, au cinéma et à la télévision. Il tient l'un de ses rares rôles principaux dans le western-spaghetti Un tueur nommé Luke.

Biographie

Askew was born in Macon, Georgia to Milton Dillard Askew (1904-1976) and Dorothy Doolittle (1910-1969). Askew attended the University of Georgia, Mercer University, and Walter F. Jay School of Law. Askew served in the United States Air Force during his college years in intelligence. He made his film debut in Otto Preminger's Hurry Sundown (1967), but was first noticed as an actor for his role in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. He was one of the first actors daring to wear long hair in this era, which he had to hide under a hat during the filming of this movie. The next year he worked with John Wayne in The Green Berets (with his hair cut short). The following year he worked with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, a film that set him on the road to becoming a cult figure of modern cinema.

Askew continued to work as an actor after that, predominantly appearing in guest roles on television series. This includes work on such series as: Bonanza, High Chaparral, Mission: Impossible, Cannon, The Rockford Files, Quincy, M.E., The Six Million Dollar Man, T. J. Hooker, L.A. Law, MacGyver, Walker, Texas Ranger, Murder She Wrote, and HBO's Big Love. He appeared frequently with Bill Paxton.

He also took part in Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage (1999), a documentary about the making of Easy Rider DVD. Askew sang Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed songs at The Gaslight Cafe. According to Bob Dylan, when Luke sang at The Gaslight Cafe it was like a "guy who sounded like Bobby Blue Bland".

Askew later moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. He died in Portland, on March 29, 2012, from lung cancer.

Ses meilleurs films