Louie Anderson is a three-time Emmy award winner. He is one of the country’s most recognized and adored comics, and was named by Comedy Central as “One of 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time.”
Big Break
Anderson began his career at a comedy club in his native Minneapolis, when on a dare from friends. He got up on stage and performed. His big break came in 1984 when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”, who was so impressed with the comic; he called him out for a rare and coveted “second bow.” Anderson’s stand-up comedy career then skyrocketed. Known as a “clean” comedian, his stories about growing up in the Midwest, being one of 11 children and dealing with an alcoholic father, provided endless material for the comic with audiences of all types relating to his everyday life experiences. Louie also takes some time to engage members of the audience in some friendly banter and will find something funny to say about whatever they do for a living, without being mean or degrading.
TV and the Movies
The multi-talented performer went on to do television and movies starring in his own CBS sitcom “The Louie Show” and his own comedy specials for both HBO and Showtime. Anderson also has guest starred on such popular sitcoms as “Roseanne”, “Scrubs”, and “Grace Under Fire,”. He’s even been in dramas like “Touched by an Angel” and “Chicago Hope.” He also has appeared in memorable featured roles in such films as “Coming to America” opposite Eddie Murphy. The multi-talented comedian/actor’s resume also includes the syndicated hit series, “Family Feud” and being executive producer and creator of the two-time Emmy Award winning animated series on FOX “Life with Louie”. Louie is currently starring alongside Zach Galifianakis as Christine Baskets in the new FX series, “Baskets”.
Other Works
Louie is also a best-selling author and has written three books including the best-selling first book “Dear Dad-Letters from an Adult Child” in 1989 and his latest “The F Word: How to Survive Your Family”. As a humanitarian, he is a co-founder of the H.E.R.O. organization whose mission is to empower people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to attain maximum self-sufficiency. He also spends many hours working with numerous other charities in keeping with his philosophy of giving back to his community whenever he can.