- Born Lou Diamond Upchurch on February 17, 1962 in Subic Bay Naval
- Base, Olongapo City, Zambales, Philippines.
- The name Phillips is from his step-father.
- He plays with the group, 'The Pipefitters with Lou Diamond Phillips'.
- Named by his father for highly decorated Gunnery Sergeant Leland 'Lou Diamond, USMC, who enlisted in the Marines at age 27 in 1917, and sa action in both world wars. To this day 'Lou' Diamond is considered one of the finest Marines of all time, and is known as 'Mr. Leatherneck'.
- Is 1/8 Cherokee.
- Was seriously considered for the role of Agent John Dogget on The X Files (1993) .
- Is of Spanish, Scottish/Irish, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, and Cherokee ancestry.
- Graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Drama
- Graduated from Flour Bluff High School in Corpus Christi, Texas.
- Has 3 daughters with second wife Kelly Phillips : twins Grace and Isabella (born 5 October 1997) and Lili Jordan (born 26 September 1999).
- Was nominated for Broadway's 1996 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for playing one of the title roles, the King, in a revival of The King and I.
- Grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas.
- Worked at Whataburger as a teen, becoming a shift leader during his term of employment.
- Enjoys doing theater.
- Good friends with Kiefer Sutherland .
- He started acting in theater at the Stage West in Fort Worth, Texas.
- He was once engaged to Jennifer Tilly .
- Loves playing poker and has held games at his Los Angeles home for nearly two decades for his friends and others.
- Was very good friends with the late Brandon Lee .
- Contributed Native American vocals on the Jon Bon Jovi solo album Young Guns II (1990) soundtrack.
- Lou and his wife, Yvonne, became the parents of a girl, Indigo Sanara, on October 9, 2007.
- *Met wife, Yvonne, while shooting a Radio Shack commercial in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- In May 2011 Phillips accepted the GI Spirit Award from Brandon Millet and Laura Law-Millet, who are founders of the the GI Film Festival. The award is presented to actors embodying 'the spirit of an American GI in their creative and philanthropic work.' Prior recipients of the award include Gary Sinise, Jon Voight, Karri Turner and Rich Schroder.
