Lou Swarz (born Lucille Henrietta Schwartz; May 1897 – date of death unknown) was an American actress who performed monologues in one-woman shows and featured in films during the 1930s through the 1950s.

She was also a teacher of theatre and beauty at Douglass University and other vocational schools, before becoming a sports columnist for The New York Age and having several syndicated columns.

She received multiple honors throughout her life for her community service work with her sorority Zeta Phi Beta and for her ongoing community engagement through her radio show, with her "La Cheerios" program sending positive cheer cards to people in hospitals and her "Teen Town" program to help reduce juvenile delinquency among African American teenagers being specifically praised.

[7] For these one-woman shows she performed as characterizations of figures such as Hattie Tyson from Zora Neal Hurston's novel Jonah's Gourd Vine, a French mademoiselle who falls for an American G.I.

[12] From 1942, Swarz began doing a series of shows for the United Service Organizations at various army camps throughout the country and bringing gifts for the soldiers.

[14] Alongside her Zeta sorority, Swarz spent three to four days a month doing USO performance tours until the end of World War II.

[16] In addition to starring in films, she also became Director of Negro Publicity for Jack Goldberg's Herald Pictures in 1947 and obtained her own press secretary, Wanda Macy.

[34] In 1939 the St. Louis branch of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks gave Swarz an award, a wooden plaque replica of her own image, for her sorority and civic work.

[35] The Lou Swarz chapter of the Women's Defense Corps was named in her honor for her efforts to support the US military during World War II, and she personally received the citation given to the unit in July 1944.

A "6 Point" program was organized by Swarz in November 1938 to focus on particular avenues of activity for the sorority, including educational, civic, social, charitable, cultural, and spiritual outreach branches.

[39] She presented a number of new projects in 1939 involving creating and expanding recreational centers and nurseries in "neglected localities" in major cities.

[42] Another program established by Swarz around the same time was the "Teen Town" system,[43] which focused on reducing juvenile delinquency around New York where she first created it.