Death With Louie

 

"I hope I'm not on 'E True Hollywood Story' 'til I'm dead."

Louis Perry "Louie" Anderson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on March 24, 1953.  He was the tenth child born to father Louis, a trumpeter, and mother Ora Zelly, who could trace her ancestry back to the Mayflower.

Anderson was a gifted comedian from the start.  He made his professional debut in 1984, appearing on Rodney Dangerfield's Young Comedians Special on HBO.  That same year, he made his silver screen debut as well, appearing as a cab driver in the Dabney Coleman spy thriller Cloak and Dagger.  He would later famously appear opposite Eddie Murphy in the classic comedy Coming to America (1988) and its subsequent sequel Coming 2 America (2021).  I didn't see it either.

In 1999, Anderson assumed hosting responsibilities for the long-running game show Family Feud.  He was the third such comedian to host the program, following Richard Dawson and Ray Combs.  In 2002, he was replaced by Home Improvement alum Richard Karn.  He later predicted to the press that the show would be off the air in less than a year.  However, in 2017, he returned as a contestant on Celebrity Family Feud, now hosted by comedian and talk show host Steve Harvey.

Around 2010, Anderson was diagnosed with a lymphoma, a fact he kept private for more than a decade.  It ultimately took his life on January 21, 2022.  He was just 68 years old.  He was cremated, and his ashes were entombed at Acacia Park Cemetery in Mendota Heights, Minnesota.

Location: Niche #5, South, #R-3, #01

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Louie Anderson, take a voyage to your public library or Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• In 1986, Anderson was cast in the pilot episode of Perfect Strangers opposite Bronson Pinchot.  Executives felt they lacked chemistry however, and the role was recast with series lead Mark Linn-Baker.
  
  
• In 1997, Anderson won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for playing himself on the series Life With Louie.  Check out the intro on YouTube.
  
  
• That same year, Anderson began paying hush money to Richard John Gordon, who was blackmailing the comedian over a 1993 encounter at a casino in Hawthorne, California.  By 2000, Gordon had raised his rates, at which time Anderson finally reported him to the authorities.  Gordon subsequently spent two years in prison.
  
  
• Proving that they too had a sense of humor, former retail giant The Sports Authority hired Anderson to promote their products in a series of silly commercials, like this one.  Coincidentally, the brand filed for bankruptcy in 2016.