Luke Askew was a good actor who had leading man looks, but strangely enough, never made it to the star level. He certainly had the talent, which was used in supporting roles in many westerns, dramas and television shows throughout his forty-plus years in the business.
He's probably best known as the Stranger who takes Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper to the hippie commune in Easy Rider, but that performance is really just a small piece of a larger picture that made up his wonderful work as an actor.
Other stand-out roles, just to name a few, include Boss Paul in the prison drama, Cool Hand Luke, Automatic Slim in the revenge picture, Rolling Thunder, and as the peaceful hippie in the biker film, Angel Unchained.
However, the real talent of Luke Askew lies in his whole body of work. From The Culpepper Cattle Company to Frailty, through a slew of guest starring roles in television shows way too numerous to name, his characters were hard to forget. He may not have had star billing, but he was a huge star in the scenes he was a part of.
His work proves that he could have carried a mainstream picture, but for reasons unknown that never happened. Sadly, Luke Askew passed away on March 29, 2012 at the age of eighty. He was a wonderful actor whose talents added depth to any project he was involved in. He will be greatly missed.
He's probably best known as the Stranger who takes Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper to the hippie commune in Easy Rider, but that performance is really just a small piece of a larger picture that made up his wonderful work as an actor.
Other stand-out roles, just to name a few, include Boss Paul in the prison drama, Cool Hand Luke, Automatic Slim in the revenge picture, Rolling Thunder, and as the peaceful hippie in the biker film, Angel Unchained.
However, the real talent of Luke Askew lies in his whole body of work. From The Culpepper Cattle Company to Frailty, through a slew of guest starring roles in television shows way too numerous to name, his characters were hard to forget. He may not have had star billing, but he was a huge star in the scenes he was a part of.
His work proves that he could have carried a mainstream picture, but for reasons unknown that never happened. Sadly, Luke Askew passed away on March 29, 2012 at the age of eighty. He was a wonderful actor whose talents added depth to any project he was involved in. He will be greatly missed.
Saw him play an ex-Nam criminal in an episode of THE ROCKFORD FILES and he was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAnytime I ever think of Luke I find myself saying out loud “Pinky Dobson is paralyzed.” and always have a little laugh. The line was said in Walking Tall The Final Chapter but he played a good villain in Walking Tall II as Pinky Dobson.
ReplyDeleteHe was in two great films that I saw a long time ago:"The Green Berets" where he played Provo, the young dying soldier who oddly enough longs for his own bathroom and "Night Of The Serpent" a lesser known Spaghetti Western where he played Luke The Gunfighter who temporarily hung up his guns after accidentally shooting his younger brother during target practice. It was his only Spaghetti Western. He was also in "Frank and Jesse" playing The Lone Rider that Jesse James later kills. What a wonderful actor.
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