Luke Askew R.I.P.

Character actor Luke Askew, who appeared in Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Easy Rider (1969), passed on 29 March 2012 at the age of 80.

Luke Askew was born on 26 May 1932 in Macon, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia.

Mr. Askew made his film debut in Hurry Sundown in 1967. In the same year he appeared in The Happening and Cool Hand Luke. He finished out the Sixties appearing in the films Will Penny (1968), The Devil's Brigade (1968), The Green Berets (1968), Easy Rider (1969), Flareup (1969), and The Night of the Serpent (1969). He guest starred on the TV shows The High Chaparral and Mission: Impossible.

In the Seventies Luke Askew guest starred on such TV series as Bonanza, Bearcats, Longstreet, Cannon, Police Story, The Rockford Files, How the West Was Won, and Hart to Hart. He appeared in the films The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), The Magnificent Seven Ride (1972), Slipstream (1973), Rolling Thunder (1977), and Wanda Nevada (1979).

In the Eighties Mr. Skew guest starred on such television shows as Quincy, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Matt Houston, Airwolf, L. A. Law, and Simon & Simon. He appeared in such movies as The Beast Within (1982), The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984), Bulletproof (1988), and Back to Back (1989). From the Nineties into the Naughts he guest starred on such shows as Murder She Wrote, Kung Fu the Legend Continues, Everwood, and Cold Case. He had a recurring role on Big Love. He appeared in such films as Dune Warriors (1991), The Friends of Harry (1995), The Newton Boys (1998), Frailty (2001), and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005).

In many respects Luke Askew's career can be summed up by two of the earliest films in which he appeared. In Cool Hand Luke he played the cruel prison guard Boss Paul. In Easy Rider he played a stranger who guided Wyatt and Billy to a hippie commune. The two parts were so different as to be completely opposite each other, yet Mr. Askew played each convincingly. He was a versatile actor who over the course of his career played everything from soldiers to cowboys to police officers and played all of them well.