# RIP Louie Anderson **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death, comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [January 21, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179 "2022-01-21T16:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/1 "2022-01-21T16:40:46Z")
He did amuse. The Mrs. and I saw him in Vegas. He communicated his humor and his pain very poignantly. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/2 "2022-01-21T16:42:29Z")
He must have been around my age (67)? Cause of death? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/3 "2022-01-21T16:45:43Z")
non-hodgkin lymphoma ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/4 "2022-01-21T22:00:51Z")
Yes, he was 68. For people my age, Louie was a [cartoon character](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_with_Louie) 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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wz5S41tcZs&ab_channel=CBSSundayMorning). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/5 "2022-01-21T22:41:55Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/6 "2022-01-21T23:02:49Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 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? Splash ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/7 "2022-01-21T23:05:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/8 "2022-01-21T23:25:53Z")
“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.” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/9 "2022-01-21T23:36:24Z")
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. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2bRe1CeGe7g/maxresdefault.jpg "Louie Anderson's Incredible First Appearance | Carson Tonight Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bRe1CeGe7g) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/10 "2022-01-21T23:44:05Z")
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMmOURQgSBA) from that show. I loved him in Baskets. He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/11 "2022-01-22T00:07:45Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 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. Google tells me that this was from 1984, and that Louie decided to stop doing fat jokes in ‘87. [CITE](https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Entertainment/wireStory/louie-anderson-emmy-winning-comedian-dies-68-82397374) > [@](#): > > He had a life-long battle with weight, but said in 1987 that he’d put a stop to using his size as stage material. > > “I’ve always been big,” he said. “But I don’t do fat jokes anymore.” 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. [ANOTHER CITE](https://people.com/tv/louie-anderson-on-forgiving-alcoholic-father/?amp=true) > [@](#): > > Anderson went on to reveal that when his father was around 10 years old, he and his sister were taken out of their home and placed for adoption. > > “[They were] split up and never saw each other for 50 years,” he said. “Because ‘put up for adoption’ meant that you were put up in front of a church congregation and families picked you and took you. Imagine being with your sister and having her go one place and you go another.” The fallout was that Louie grew up with a very angry dad. > [@](#): > > One time my dad goes, ‘I hate that guy.’ I go, ‘You don’t even know him.’ He goes, ‘I don’t need to know someone to hate them, Louie.’ Thank God for my dad — I’m still doing the humor.” Life sure if complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/12 "2022-01-22T00:17:39Z")
Read thhis short but beautiful story about him. > ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/13 "2022-01-22T00:25:08Z")
Norm Macdonald, Bob Saget, Louie Anderson. Yeesh, the world is a lot less funny than it was before. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/14 "2022-01-22T00:31:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/15 "2022-01-22T01:25:25Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > “Until I got a little older, a little smarter…a little brother.” Came in to cite that exact bit. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > Can’t find it on youtube right now. Start at 2:25. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ToVO3Bvujqs/maxresdefault.jpg "Louie Anderson at Dangerfield's (1984)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToVO3Bvujqs) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/16 "2022-01-22T01:56:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > …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. Do you see what you did there? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/17 "2022-01-22T03:13:06Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Do you see what you did there? No, but I think Louie would appreciate it now I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/18 "2022-01-22T03:24:37Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 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. He did two DVDs that I know of. _Big Baby Boomer_ and _Mom! Louie’s Looking At Me Again!_ ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/19 "2022-01-22T04:15:41Z")
I first knew of him from the cartoon then I found out he was a comedian and sought him out more. Very funny guy. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179/20 "2022-01-22T08:46:44Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Here’s a [clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMmOURQgSBA) from that show. That’s funnier than I thought the whole first season of that show was. And, no, I’ve never pancaked anyone. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > 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. Me too, but I have to admit I still laugh at “The broad jump. Killed her.” > [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Start at 2:25. Thanks, I was going to look for that later. If you have brothers, the jokes are spot on. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Do you see what you did there? Totally missed it, nice catch. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > 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. 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-louie-anderson/958179.md?page=2)