Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 9, 1951. He is a reputed American professional bodybuilder and actor. Of Italian descent, his model was the American actor and bodybuilder Steve Reeves. He began lifting weights at the age of 13. After graduating he successfully competed in bodybuilding tournaments such as Mr. Universe, Mr. America and Mr. Olympia. He participates in the documentary Pumping Iron (USA, 1977), by George Butler and Robert Fiore, which features another young bodybuilder on the rise, the Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Because of his large size, Lou Ferrigno was selected to work on The Incredible Hulk, a series co-starring Bill Bixby. The television show, based on the Marvel character, had 80 episodes between 1978 and 1982. It would be canceled in its fifth season. With the idea of resuming the show, three TV movies were made: The Incredible Hulk Returns (USA, 1988), by Nicholas Corea and Bill Bixby; The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (USA, 1989); and The Death of the Incredible Hulk (USA, 1990), by Bill Bixby. A sequel was planned, but the sudden death of actor Bill Bixby completely frustrated this project.
In 1983 Lou Ferrigno, again following in the footsteps of Steve Reeves, made his peplum debut in Claudio Fragasso and Bruno Mattei's The Seven Gladiators (I sette Magnifici Gladiatori, Italy, 1983), as well as Luigi Cozzi's The Challenge of Hercules (Hercules, Italy, 1983). In 1985 he would again take on the role of the mythological hero in La Furia del Coloso (Le avventure dell'incredibile Ercole, Italy, 1985), by Luigi Cozzi and in 1989 he would take on the role of another hero, this time from Arab mythology, in Simbad, el rey de los mares (Sinbad of the seven seas, USA, 1989), by Enzo G. Castellari (Skull Island of Honor Award 2018).
Between 1996 and 1997 Lou Ferrigno also played the Hulk in the animated series The Incredible Hulk, where Neal McDonough voiced Bruce Banner. In 2003 he began working as a reserve police officer in the city of Los Angeles. That same year he made a cameo in Ang Lee's film, Hulk (USA, 2003), as a security guard. In 2008 he is called again to play a security agent in The Incredible Hulk (The Incredible Hulk, USA, 2008), lending his voice to the green creature in that film. He reprised this role in the first Avengers film (The Avengers, USA, 2012), and in Avengers: The Age of Ultron (Avengers: The Age of Ultron, USA, 2015), both directed by Joss Whedon. In the episode For All Time. Always episode of the Loki series, Ferrigno's voice was also used.
His most recent film, Salvatore Sclafani's The Hermit (USA, 2024), a horror film in which the veteran actor plays a hermit and cannibal farmer, is pending release.
