Life with Louie

Background:

“I hope I'm not on 'The E! True Hollywood Story' till I'm dead.” Louie Anderson

Two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, actor, game-show host, author and voice-over artist Louie Anderson has established a flourishing comedy career by benefiting his immense weight and has been named one of Comedy Central's “100 Greatest Standups of all time.” About his weight, he said, “My first words were 'Seconds, please.' Most kids in kindergarten napped on a little rug. I had a braided 9 x 12.” He has starred in many specials on HBO and Showtime and performed in numerous clubs throughout the United States, most notably in Las Vegas. In the mid- to late 1990s, Anderson became famous as the creator, producer and performer of the Fox animated series “Life with Louie” (1995), from which he took home his Daytime Emmy Awards. He also starred in and created the short-lived sitcom “The Louie Show” (1996) and has acted in such films as “Quicksilver” (1986), “Coming America” (1989), “Back by Midnight” (2002) and ““Cook-Off!” (2006) and guested in such TV series as “Remington Steele,” “Chicago Hope,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Ally McBeal,” “V.I.P” and others. As a game show host, Anderson is probably best known for his work in the new version of “The Family Feud” (1999-2002). He has authored three books, including the first, best-selling “Dear Dad, Letters from an Adult Child” (1989).

In 2000, Anderson became the victim of a blackmailing done by a man who threatened to bring out to media that the renowned comic allegedly approached him in a California casino and requested sexual acts in 1993. Anderson paid a large amount of overcharge money to the man, but when the blackmailer requested more, he called the police. Before long, the man was arrested and sent to jail. A philanthropist, Anderson has supported a number of charities and founded H.E.R.O., which aimed to endow people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless to get maximal self-adequacy.

The 10th

Childhood and Family:

Louie Perry Anderson was born on March 24, 1953, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tenth child was raised in a big family with a total of eleven kids in the east side of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Louie's father became addicted to alcohol for the rest of his life and after his death, Louie started keeping a kind of diary consisted of letters to his dad, which was latter compiled into a book called “Dear Dad Letters from an Adult Child.” Before launching his comedy career, Louie worked professionally as a school counselor for abused children.

Currently residing in Los Angeles, the popular comedian left his hometown for Las Vegas and stayed there during most of his career.

The Family Feud

Career:

A counselor of troubled children in Minneapolis, Louie Anderson got his comedy career start in late 1978 in a local comedy club in replay to a challenge from colleagues. He received good response from the audience and within six months, Anderson was on his way pursuing comedy professionally. He toured the college circuits and clubs in Chicago and Kansas City, while trading his persona as the glad, adorable loser, and in 1981, Anderson's hard work paid off when he won a first-place trophy at the Midwest Comedy Competition and was soon hired by the host Henry Youngman as a joke writer.

Anderson's big break arrived in 1984 when he appeared in NBC's “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Impressed by his act, Carson invited him back to make a second appearance on the show. A noted stand-up, Anderson continued to acquire a great deal of notoriety on the stand up circuit throughout the rest of 1980s, most notably as a headliner at the Comedy Store in Sunset Boulevard.

First having his first taste in front of the film cameras as a taxi driver in 1984's “Cloak & Dagger,”an action helmed by Richard Franklin, Anderson furthered built a reputation as a character actor in features with unforgettable appearances in such movies as the Kevin Bacon vehicle “Quicksilver” (1986, as the bicycle messenger who always eats), John Hughes' comedy, “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986, as a flower deliveryman), which starred Matthew Broderick and Mia Sara, and “Coming America” (1989), directed by John Landis and starring fellow comedians Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. He also made a guest appearance as Bingham 'Bing' Perret in a 1986 episode of the NBC cult favorite “Remington Steele,” and was cast as Dr. Andy Lewinson eight years later in the “Grace Under Fire” episode of “Tears of Joy.”

Thanks to his eldritch ability to personally connect with a crowd, Anderson broke into television hosting in 1995 when he became the host of the series “HBO Comedy Showcase” and the special “Comic Relief VII.” It was also in that same year that the comic created and produced the cartoon series “Life with Louie” (Fox), in which Anderson also provided the vocal of Andy Anderson. After its debut in September 1995, the Saturday morning show, which based on his childhood, went on to receive extensive critical acclaim and won Anderson two Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (1997, 1998) and a nomination for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program (1999), which he shared with other executive producers like Ahmos Hassan and Thomas L. Wilhite and director Bert Ring, among others.

In 1996, Anderson created and starred in the CBS sitcom “The Louie Show,” which unfortunately only had a short life and was canceled after six episodes. He next had an uncredited part in the made-for-TV film “For Hope” (1996) and made guest appearances in episodes of “Chicago Hope” (1997, as Louie Lickman) and “Touched by an Angel” (1999, as Uncle Dudley). A recurring panelist of the game-show “The New Hollywood Squares,” a gig he held from 1998 to 2002, Anderson earned fame as a game-show host in an updated version of the classic game show “The Family Feud,” formerly hosted by Richard Dawson. Starting his gig in 1999, Anderson left the show in 2002 and was replaced by Richard Karn.

A life-long live performer, Anderson has had regular dates at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and has starred in comedy shows in his hometown of Minneapolis, along side business partner Scott Hanson. In addition, he has headlined his own comedy specials on Showtime and HBO. Anderson has also continued his acting career in the millennium era with guest roles in “Ally McBeal” (2000), “Nash Bridges” (2001), “V.I.P.” (2001), “Half & Half” (2005), “Grim & Evil” and “ Tom Goes to the Mayor” (both 2006) as well as various roles in the movies Harry Basil's “Back by Midnight” (2002, as a game show host), “Do It for Uncle Manny” (2002, as a tow truck driver ) and the comedy “Cook-Off!” (2006, costarred with Derek Anderson as Mayor Doug Halverson).

In addition to lending his writing talents for television programs, Anderson also has published three books. His first book, “Dear Dad, Letters from an Adult Child” (1989), has launched Anderson into the rank of best-selling author. This was followed by “Goodbye Jumbo, Hello Cruel World” and “The F Word: How to Survive Your Family.”

Awards:

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, “Life with Louie,” 1998

• Daytime Emmy: Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, “Life with Louie,” 1997