Acting in film and television since 1964, Lou's early film roles included What's So Bad About Feeling Good?, opposite Mary Tyler Moore, and The Godfather, opposite James Caan. After the death of Lou's father, notable character actor Lou Martini, in early 1971, Lou's mom decided it was best for him to take a break from acting. It wasn't till college at the University of Houston that Lou took up acting again. Although the “bug” had been dormant for a while, it never left him. Soon after graduating with a B.A. in Communications, Lou landed a leading role in the smash off-broadway show Tony and Tina's Wedding. Since then, Lou has appeared consistently on stage, in film, and on television.
Lou's latest TV credits include guest and recurring roles on such hit shows as NBC's Blacklist, Law & Order: SVU, Unforgettable, and The Mysteries of Laura, Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Sneaky Pete, opposite Giovanni Ribisi, Netflix's Seven Seconds and Orange is the New Black, FX's The Americans, Showtime's Nurse Jackie, Girls, and Show Me a Hero, HBO's Crashing, Martin's Scorsese's Vinyl, and The Deuce, opposite James Franco.
Maybe Lou's most recognizeable character was the lovable eye glass doctor, Anthony Infante, on the last season of HBO's The Sopranos, which garnered the cast a SAG award nomination for best ensemble. Another notable TV credit was as host for one of the first network reality shows, The Gasteneau Girls, on the e! Network.
Some of Lou's latest film appearances include Alto, opposite Annabella Sciorra, West End, opposite Eric Roberts, and Redemption, opposite James McCaffrey. Lou won the prestigious Best Actor award recently at the nation's 4th biggest film festival, Houston World Fest, for his portrayal of a down-on-his-luck theatre director--and devout nudist--in the dark comedy, Suicide Notes.
Latest stage credits include dozens of regional theatre and NYC productions, including off-broadway, starring in Centennial Casting, where he won a Best Lead Actor award, and Wild Children, the semi-autobiographical story of veteran character actor Vincent Pastore. Vincent was taken aback by lou's performance, saying, "He's me up there!"
Lou is now creating his own content as well. He has production deals with two of his own screenplays, which he will be starring in and producing, along with several TV pilots, scripted and unscripted, in different stages of development.