He did amuse. The Mrs. and I saw him in Vegas. He communicated his humor and his pain very poignantly.
He must have been around my age (67)? Cause of death?
non-hodgkin lymphoma
Yes, he was 68.
For people my age, Louie was a cartoon character and a “Hollywood Squares” guest. I absolutely loved him in the FX comedy “Baskets” as Zach Galifinakis’ mother. Played absolutely straight. Here’s a piece from CBS Sunday Morning.
He wrote a book of letters to his mother. When he was doing “Baskets” and promoting his book I saw him on various talk shows. You could tell he was a person who had a lot of pain in his life but he was always funny. Self-deprecating humor.
I’ll miss him. It was a treat to see him make a resurgence lately.
Does anyone remember the name of the reality show he was on where he had to learn to do a high dive into a pool?
I thought that took courage on his part.
mmm
Splash
I remember his routine from around 1994-95. It was very funny and I actually think he should have worked to release more specials. I don’t recall every seeing any comedy specials from him in the Netflix era, which is a real shame because few people probably remember how great a stand-up he was.
I liked him on Family Feud. He might have been the best host, to be honest. Very nice and laid back.
His whole life story is interesting as well. His family hounded him for money after he became “rich and famous”, so to speak. He had to cut many of them off because they would not stop asking him to set them up for life.
A really funny guy, a really nice guy, and I’ll miss him. Louie was great.
“Until I got a little older, a little smarter…a little brother.” Still his best routine ever. Can’t find it on youtube right now.
One of the first killer jokes in the stand-up act of Louie Anderson was about the meanness of older brothers. Imitating one of his own in an intimidating voice, he warned that there was a monster in a swamp nearby. With childlike fear in his eyes, Anderson reported that he avoided that area “until I got a little older and a little smarter and a little brother.”
Pivoting to the future in an instant, he adopted the older brother voice, pointing to the swamp and telling his sibling: “That’s where your real parents live.”
Here is his very fun little routine from the first time on the Tonight Show. I actually prefer his material that didn’t focus quite so much on his weight, but this is what got him launched into wide success. Louie had all the talent and could do whole routines without mentioning that he had a weight problem, but early on, this is what he relied on.
I coincidentally started watching Search Party on HBO Max and I happened to be watching the episodes where Louie is playing lawyer Bob Lunch. He does an amazing job, as always. Here’s a clip from that show. I loved him in Baskets. He will be missed.
Google tells me that this was from 1984, and that Louie decided to stop doing fat jokes in ‘87.
The other thing I find striking in that clip are the jokes about his abusive father. He later came to understand that his father had been adopted as a kid, which forced him to spilt up with his sister.
The fallout was that Louie grew up with a very angry dad.
Life sure if complicated.
Read thhis short but beautiful story about him.
Norm Macdonald, Bob Saget, Louie Anderson.
Yeesh, the world is a lot less funny than it was before.
RIP. Watching Louie’s standup is one of the first memories of comedy I have. And I still distinctly remember watching his movie “The Wrong Guys” as a kid and loving it. Another great loss.
Came in to cite that exact bit.
Start at 2:25.
Do you see what you did there?
mmm
No, but I think Louie would appreciate it now I see it.
He did two DVDs that I know of. Big Baby Boomer and Mom! Louie’s Looking At Me Again!
I first knew of him from the cartoon then I found out he was a comedian and sought him out more.
Very funny guy.
That’s funnier than I thought the whole first season of that show was. And, no, I’ve never pancaked anyone.
Me too, but I have to admit I still laugh at “The broad jump. Killed her.”
Thanks, I was going to look for that later. If you have brothers, the jokes are spot on.
Totally missed it, nice catch.
The only stuff of his I remember from tv was the Rodney Dangerfield comedy club shows, probably on HBO. He was not really the typical kind of comedian I would watch, but he was hilarious every time I saw him. I didn’t even know he did Family Feud.