Lou Antonio

Lou Antonio, born Louis Demetrios Antoniou on January 23, 1934 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, began his career after a diverse upbringing that blended English, French, German, and Greek heritage. During his teenage years he wrote sport copy for the Daily Oklahoman and earned a journalism scholarship to the University of Oklahoma, where he majored in French while taking acting classes on the side. After graduating, he moved to New York City to study with Lee Strasberg, Curt Conway and Lonny Chapman, laying the groundwork for a versatile career that would span nearly five decades.

Antonio first appeared on screen in the early 1960s, quickly becoming a familiar guest star on such series as The Rookies, Mission: Impossible, The Fugitive and Gunsmoke. His most memorable television moment came in the 1969 Star Trek episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” where he played the strikingly painted alien Lokai, a performance later praised by The Hollywood Reporter and SyFy. He also contributed memorable turns in Bewitched and The Snoop Sisters, and earned film credits in Cool Hand Luke and America, America. Transitioning behind the camera, Antonio directed episodes of iconic shows including The Flying Nun, The Partridge Family, The Rockford Files, Picket Fences, Party of Five, Dawson’s Creek and The West Wing, with his last directing credit on Boston Legal in 2007. Off‑screen, he married fellow Actors Studio member Lane Bradbury in 1965, and the couple raised two daughters before divorcing in 1980; their daughter Elkin Antonio has continued the family’s artistic legacy as a writer and documentary filmmaker.