Life with Louie

Background:

Daytime Emmy Award winning standup comedian, actor, game show host, author and voiceover actor Louie Anderson has been named one of Comedy Central's “100 Greatest Standups of All Time.” 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 a performer on 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 To America” (1989), “Back by Midnight” (2002) and “Cook-Off” (2006). He has also guest starred 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 Family Feud” (1999-2002). He has also written three books, including the bestselling “Dear Dad, Letters from an Adult Child” (1989).

In 2000, Anderson became the victim of blackmail by a man who threatened to bring out to the media that the renowned comic allegedly approached him in a California casino and requested sexual acts in 1993. Anderson paid a large amount of 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 helps homeless people.

The 10th

Childhood and Family:

Louie Perry Anderson was born on March 24, 1953, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The tenth child of the family, (eleven kids in all) he was raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Louie's father became addicted to alcohol and after his death Louie began keeping a diary that 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 has stayed there for most of his career.

The Family Feud

Career:

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

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

Having his first taste in front of the film cameras as a taxi driver in 1984's “Cloak & Dagger,” an action movie directed by Richard Franklin, Anderson built a reputation as a character actor in features with appearances in 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 To America” (1989), which was directed by John Landis and starred fellow comedians Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. He also made a guest appearance as Bingham 'Bing' Perret in a 1986 episode of the NBC series “Remington Steele” and was cast as Dr. Andy Lewinson eight years later in the “Grace Under Fire” episode “Tears of Joy.”

Thanks to his 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 that same year that the comic created and produced the cartoon series “Life with Louie” (Fox), in which Anderson also provided the voice of Andy Anderson. After its debut in September 1995, the Saturday morning show, which was based on his childhood, received critical acclaim and won Anderson Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program (1997 and 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 was canceled after six episodes. He next had an unaccredited part in the TV film “For Hope” (1996) and made guest appearances in episodes of “Chicago Hope” (1997) and “Touched by an Angel” (1999). 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,” which was 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, alongside business partner Scott Hanson. In addition, he has headlined his own comedy specials on Showtime and HBO. Anderson has also continued his acting career 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 roles in the movies “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, as Mayor Doug Halverson).

In addition to lending his writing talents to television programs, Anderson has also published three books. His first book, “Dear Dad, Letters from an Adult Child” (1989), launched Anderson as a bestselling 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