Lou Rawls career as an actor is busier than ever, his history is far shorter but clearly on the rise. In Baywatch Nights, the weekly one-hour action drama spin-off of the most successful franchise in the history of television, Rawls plays the character "Lou," who runs the Southern California beachside nightclub "Nights." Rawls has a role in the critically-acclaimed feature film Leaving Las Vegas starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue and has appeared in two other recent independent films.

Yet perhaps most importantly, as a philanthropist, Lou Rawls continues to be an inspiration. In 1976, Rawls began his corporate spokesmanship with Anheuser Busch, the world's largest brewery, and ever since then his name is synonymous with "The King of Beers", Budweiser. With the support of this corporation, Rawls has made the United Negro College Fund a special beneficiary of his talents. Through Anheuser Busch's sponsorship of Lou Rawls' Parade of Stars telethon, begun in 1980, he broke the $100 million dollar mark on December 26, 1992, for 42 black colleges via telephone pledges. 1992 marked Rawls' thirteenth year of participation, an endeavor, he says, "helps children to become educated, useful human beings." Rawls is also the organizer of the Lou Rawls' Celebrity Golf Tournament in Los Angeles sponsored by Anheuser Busch to raise funds for the United Negro College Fund.

Lou Rawls was born in Chicago and raised by his grandmother. His first exposure to music was in a church choir when he was seven-years-old, but he was mostly influenced by Chicago's Regal Theatre where he went to see the great Black entertainers of the day, induding Billy Eckstein, Arthur Prysock and Joe Williams. "I loved the way they could lift the spirit of the audience," Rawls says.

After graduation from Dunbar Trade Technical High School, Rawls joined the touring gospel group, The Pilgrim Travelers. It was this experience that laid the foundation for his style and ability to relate to an audience. Rawls left the group to enlist in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, home of the "Screaming Eagles", and in 1958 rejoined the singers.

Lou Rawls was on-the-road, singing background with Sam Cooke when an accident occurred that left Cooke unharmed, a third person dead, and Rawls in a coma for five and one-half days with a memory loss for three months.

"I really got a new life out of that, and saw a lot of reasons to live. I realized I had a immature attitude about life. I began to learn acceptance, direction, understanding and perception- all elements that had been sadly lacking in my life. I might have lived long enough to learn all this in the long haul, but I would have been just another soul taking up time and space for a long spell before I learned." Many of Lou Rawls' keen feelings and perceptions go into his performances. "I'm proud to say that when I sing, people tell me they listen to the words and know what I'm saying. For example, when I do Love's A Hurtin' Thing or Close Company I get a tremendous response," he says. "Recently, a woman came to me and asked, 'How do you know what my life is about? I feel as if you're singing to me,' and that makes me feel wonderful. It proves that I can relate to what my audience feels and thinks."

Lou Rawls' big break came in late 1959 when he was performing at Pandora's Box Coffee Shop in Los Angeles. Nick Benet, a producer with Capitol Records asked Rawls if he wanted to make a record. The stunned singer did an audition tape and was soon signed to a contract. He then made the rounds of the top Los Angeles clubs and coffee houses, and began to enjoy a loyal and growing following.

"But I knew nothing about the business," Rawls admits. "I was in transition from gospel music, and I had a lot of trial and error in learning. I was lucky to hook up with good people."

With the recording of his first album in 1966, Lou Rawls Live, he received national recognition. The album went gold and received critical acceptance, which led to the album Love Is A Hurtin' Thing, which received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance.

Lou Rawls won his first Grammy in 1967 for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance on Dead End Street, which was also nominated for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. A Grammy nomination for Your Good Thing (Is About To End) followed in 1969, and in 1971, Rawls won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance for Natural Man.

It was in 1976, that Lou Rawls signed with Philadelphia International Records and began his association with Gamble and Huff and You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine). The song was the ballad dassic of the year and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance. That year Rawls also was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance for Groovy People.

1977 was also a good year as Lou Rawls captured another Grammy for Best Vocal Performance for Unmistakable Lou and in 1978 the singer was again nominated for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance for When You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All.

Lou Rawls' 1982 release, When The Night Comes, garnered critical reviews, earned him two Beach Music Awards and produced the hit single Wind Beneath My Wings. The singer was especially honored when Lt. Col. Gulon Bluford, the first black astronaut, chose to take this album into space with him.

Rawls then released the Epic album Love All Your Blues Away, which featured a 41-piece orchestra and guest artists induding Bill Champlin ("Chicago"), Richard Page and Steve George ("Mr. Mister") and producer/writer/performer David Foster.

Lou Rawls has also gained popularity through his affiliation with the perennially-popular cartoon feline Garfield the Cat. He has provided his distinctive vocal styling for three animated Garfield specials produced by Lee Mendelson in association with United Feature Productions. Rawls was also featured on the Garfield soundtrack album released in conjunction with the first special.

Since 1980, Lou Rawls has presented a series of worldwide concerts for American military bases co-sponsored by Anheuser Busch, the U.S.O. and the Department of Defense. During Christmas of 1983, for example, Rawls toured bases in Korea, Japan and the Phillipines. "I initiated this program to highlight the importance of the job that the military is doing, and to show my appreciation to the servicemen and to my country," he says.

Lou Rawls continues to perform hundreds of concert dates each year. "And I'm always ready," he says. "When I'm on the road, I click into my 'show business attitude' about 6:00 p.m. and gear myself up for the evening. I'm completely energized before I go on-stage. Then I click into overdrive," he laughs. A perfectionist, Rawls admits he "preaches" to his musicians before the concert. "I always tell them to leave their problems at home because they show up on stage and people in the audience don't care- they want to be entertained and they deserve to be entertained. I know if there's one cog in the wheel that doesn't function, it will show.

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