Born Louis Ferraioli in 1928, he used the name Louis J. “Lou” Steele for his work as an announcer/actor. And announce he did, starting out in radio at WPAT in Paterson, New Jersey.
He went to Hollywood at 21 and appeared as a contract actor in several films, including “September Affair” and “The Furies”.
By the Korean War, he was announcing for Armed Forces Radio—the voice that told the troops that President Truman had their commander, General Douglas MacArthur, removed.
Lou became an announcer for WNEW-TV 5 out of New York City in the 50s. He gave voice to the catch phrase, coined by his colleague, Tom Gregory: “It’s 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?” Steel also voiced another PSA for the station: “It’s 7 P.M. Did you hug your child today?”
As part of his job at the station he became the host for the local horror show “Creature Features” from 1969-1973. Lou was “The Creep” who wore no special make-up or strange voice or costume typical of most horror hosts. He simply conducted contests, trivia questions, quotes. In the early 1980s, they brought The Creep back to host another round of “Creature Feature” movies.
Here is a fan-made video of what the opening of “Creature Features” used to look like.
It’s dedicated to the memory of Lou Steele, The Creep, hisownself!
And another fan-made opening…
And a third, and probably more accurate…
Insightful sites cited below:
Kind of frustrating how little information and how little video survives of these old shows. But it's understandable, I guess.
To make up for it, here's something to look at...
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