Bio
Lou Cutell is an American actor best known for his starring role as one of the regular pranksters in the reality comedy hidden camera television series Betty White's Off Their Rockers, in which senior citizens prank members of the younger generation.
Cutell has appeared in dozens of movies, including The Wedding Crashers, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Young Frankenstein, Laurel Canyon, Foul Play and Odd Couple Two, as well as Little Big Man, Unstrung Heroes, The World's Greatest Lover and Rhinoceros with Zero Mostel.
He played Amazing Larry in Pee-wee Herman's Big Adventure, and also appeared in Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster and Every Little Crook and Nanny.
On the small screen, Cutell has guest starred in over 200 television shows, including Without a Trace, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Will and Grace, Spin City, Alice, Barney Miller and General Hospital. He also played The Assman on the hit series Seinfeld.
As a youth, Cutell appeared in several off-Broadway shows, including Omerta and The Passion Play. These shows got the attention of an uptown director who gave him a small part in a production of The Corn is Green.
At Hoover High School in Glendale, California, a teacher encouraged him to pursue an acting career. He received his B.A. and teaching credentials from UCLA and an award for the best actor. Upon graduating from UCLA he was drafted into the Army and got into Special Services where he did over 800 variety shows.
Cutell wrote and originated the part of Charley Milhouse in Viagra Falls. After a seven-month run, Broadway called and it opened at the Little Shubert Theater in New York City, produced by the Nederlander Organization.
Viagra Falls is his second major writing endeavour, having penned and starred in The Sicilian Bachelor, a successful, award-winning farce that ran for almost a year in Los Angeles and the East Coast.
After his army stint, he was asked to become part of the Yiddish company of actor Leo Fuchs. He did such shows as Hopalong Yussell, My Fairfax Lady and Katz on a Hot Tin Roof. Cutell thinks the Yiddish theatre was the greatest lesson in comedy he ever had.
He made his Broadway debut in the critically acclaimed musical Young Abe Lincoln. This was followed by co-starring roles in a Jerry Herman, Tad Mosel musical, Madam Aphrodite, directed by Robert Turoff. Then came How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Billy DeWolf.
During this period, he appeared as a solo act at the Bon Soir, a famous nightclub for new young musical talent. He was a replacement for the part of Benny Bausbaum in the original company of Little Me with Sid Caesar that went on a national tour.
At the Dorothy Chandler in Los Angeles, Cutell did Benny Southstreet in their production of Guys and Dolls with Milton Berle.