سيرة
Louie Cowan was born in Cape Town, South Africa, with a dream of making films in America. His professional theater debut came at age 16, playing Donalbain in Shakespeare's Macbeth. He then took on numerous musical theater roles, including Joseph in the Cape Town production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and Rolf in "The Sound of Music." Louie began his entertainment career in earnest after training at the renowned American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
Following work as a production singer on international cruise ships and for Spirit Cruise Lines on Lake Michigan in Chicago, Louie settled in Columbus. There, he appeared in numerous commercials, notably for Maker's Mark, Hollywood Casinos, Liebert Cooling Systems, and Ohio Health, as well as leading roles in independent films. Since 2001, Louie has produced and directed several films, including "Safe House," "Turkey Day," "A Cold Blood," the first Columbus-based sitcom web series "Two Doors Down," and "Bloodwood Forest."
Louie is also a published author in the book "Should I Stay or Should I Go," which chronicles his journey to emigrate to America. His film "A Cold Blood" was screened at the prestigious Wexner Center for the Arts, and "Turkey Day" won Best Film at the Wilmington Delaware International Film Festival. As an actor, he has played leading roles in feature films such as "Dark Fate," "The Courier," "Horrors of War," and "Wicked Business," and appeared alongside Jon Voight and James Caan in "JL Ranch." He has been nominated twice for the Vita Award—South Africa's equivalent of the Tony Award—and won Best Actor at the 2014 Columbus, Ohio, 48 Hour Film Challenge.
Among the challenges in his career were living for five months in a youth homeless shelter in New York City in 1989 and a harrowing experience when the cruise ship "Achille Lauro," where he performed his personal cabaret, caught fire and sank three days off the coast of Somalia. Demonstrating resilience, Louie recorded the entire event on video and sold the footage to ITN, which aired it on CNN.
Career highlights include directing his first short film "Safe House," winning the Cape Times Best Actor in a Musical Award in 1989, launching the web series "Two Doors Down," and the birth of his son in 2001.
