Luke Askew

Francis Luke Askew (March 26, 1932 – March 29, 2012)^[2][3] was an American actor. He appeared in many westerns, and had a lead role in the spaghetti Western Night of the Serpent (La notte dei serpenti; 1969).^[4] He also had a small but key part in the 1969 classic movie Easy Rider.

Luke Askew
Born	(1932-03-26)March 26, 1932 Macon, Georgia, U.S.
Died	March 29, 2012(2012-03-29) (aged 80) Lake Oswego, Oregon, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–2010
Spouse	Maggie Askew[1]

Biography

Askew was born on March 26, 1932, 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. George School of Law.^[5] In his collegiate years, Askew served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, serving in the intelligence division of Strategic Air Command.^[6]

He started his professional career in radio and television, and as a rock and blues singer.^[7] He made his film debut in Hurry Sundown (1967), but was first noticed as an actor for his role in Cool Hand Luke (1967). The following year he worked with John Wayne in The Green Berets (with his hair cut short).^[8] In 1969, he worked with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in Easy Rider, with his "Hitchhiker" character (credited as "Stranger on Highway") achieving worldwide popularity and also making Askew a recognizable face in subsequent films.^[7]

Askew starred for the first time in a role in the almost-forgotten Spaghetti Western Night of the Serpent (1969), which is now considered a cult film. He continued to work as an actor after that, predominantly appearing in supporting or villain roles in genre films like The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984) and Dune Warriors (1991), as well as guest roles on television series; this includes work on such series as: Bonanza, The 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 also took part in Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage (1999), a documentary about the making of Easy Rider,^[9] and the 2003 documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. 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".^[10]

Askew later moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon.^[2] He died at Lake Oswego on March 29, 2012, three days after his 80th birthday, due to lung cancer.^[2][11]

Selected filmography

• Hurry Sundown (1967) .... Dolph Higginson
• The Happening (1967) .... Second Motorcycle Officer
• Cool Hand Luke (1967) .... Boss Paul
• Will Penny (1967) .... Foxy
• The Devil's Brigade (1968) .... Private Hubert Hixon
• The Green Berets (1968) .... Sergeant Provo
• Easy Rider (1969) .... Stranger on Highway
• Flareup (1969) .... Alan Moris
• Night of the Serpent (1969) .... Luke
• Angel Unchained (1970) .... Jonathan Tremaine^[5]
• The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972) .... Luke
• The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) .... Jim Younger
• The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) .... Mark Skinner
• Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) .... Eno
• Slipstream (1973) .... Mike Mallard
• A Matter of Wife... and Death (1975) .... Snell
• Posse (1975) .... Krag
• Walking Tall Part 2 (1975) .... Pinky Dobson
• Mackintosh and T.J. (1975) .... Cal
• Rolling Thunder (1977) .... Automatic Slim
• Wanda Nevada (1979) .... Ruby Muldoon
• The Beast Within (1982) .... Dexter Ward
• The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984) .... Zeg the Tyrant
• Bialy smok (1987) .... Frank Brown
• Bulletproof (1988) .... Gen. Gallo
• Back to Back (1989) .... Wade Duro
• No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990) .... Atteron
• Dune Warriors (1991) .... William
• The Friends of Harry (1995) .... Harry
• Frank & Jesse (1995) .... Lone Rider
• Savage (1996) .... Capt. Rohmer
• Traveller (1997) .... Boss Jack Costello
• The Newton Boys (1998) .... Chief Schoemaker
• South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000) .... Leland Henry
• Frailty (2001) .... Sheriff Smalls
• The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) .... Alec Campbell

Television

• Mission: Impossible (1968) – The Execution .... Victor Pietro Duchell
• The High Chaparral (1969) – Shadow on the Wind .... Johnny Ringo
• Bonanza (1971; part of last season that was not aired*) – Kingdom of Fear .... Deputy Hatch
• Bearcats! (1971) – Man in a Cage .... Greer
• S.W.A.T. (1975) – Murder By Fire .... Todd
• Police Story (1975/1976; 2 episodes) – (1) Headhunter .... Eamon Kinsella Royce; (2) Blue .... Nicholson
• BJ and the Bear (1979) .... Blackwell
• Knight Rider (1983) – A Nice, Indecent Little Town .... Ron Austin
• Big Love (2007–2010) .... Hollis Green (final appearance)