Louie Anderson is gone! The Emmy-Winning Actor, Comedian has passed away.......... RIP

WOW January has been horrible for tinsel town as some very well known people have left center stage to go on to the next level of evolution beyond the stars, and this one really hurts. Now I know I say this often as I’m a fan of a lot of these folks but I grew up loving Louie Anderson both in Stand up and his limited acting roles like Coming to America. He’s shown range in his acting most recently winning Emmy awards for a show where he played a woman. He passed away shortly after it was reported that he’d been hospitalized for cancer treatment.

The world has just gotten a little less funny after losing Betty White, and Bob Saget the lord now see’s fit to take another great from his creation here on earth for the biggest show in Heaven. As now comedian Louie Anderson is gone… The news broke by ‘Deadline’ who reports that Anderson died in Las Vegas on Friday morning. The Baskets star had been hospitalized earlier this week to be treated for diffuse large B cell lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer. He was 68 years old.

Hours prior to his passing, it was clear that the outlook was not so good. Fellow comedian Pauly Shore posted to Twitter, “Attention comedians and The Comedy Store alumni’s. I say this with a heavy heart just left the hospital in Las Vegas where Louie Anderson his sisters and close friend were kind enough to let me say my goodbyes. He’s still with us but keep him in your prayers.”

Born on March 24, 1953, Louie Anderson first appeared on television as a stand-up comic on The Tonight Show in 1984. He also began to appear in movies around with time with small roles in Cloak & Dagger, Quicksilver, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In 1988, he played McDowell’s employee Maurice in the acclaimed comedy Coming to America with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. Last year, Anderson reprised the role for his final movie appearance in the sequel Coming 2 America.

“I can’t say anything except it was the greatest experience,” Anderson later told TMZ of returning for Coming 2 America, prior to the film’s release. “It’s such a great movie. People are going to go crazy for it. I think it’s going to do a billion dollars! Honest to God, I think it’s going to do a billion dollars. It’s such a good script.” 

The movie didn’t make a Billion but it was a decent movie, and he was as usual fantastic in it. Louie Anderson spent a few years on The New Hollywood Squares in the 1980s and returned for more game show fun with Hollywood Squares in the late 90s and early 2000s. He also co-created the animated series Life with Louie which was inspired by his childhood. As the voice of himself, Anderson earned the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. From 1999-2002, Anderson also served as the host of the game show Family Feud.

One of Anderson’s most celebrated roles is that of Christine Baskets on the FX drama Baskets. This role earned Anderson the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy. He was also nominated an additional two times. In 2017, Anderson revisited Family Feud for an appearance on Steve Harvey’s Celebrity Family Feud. He’d also been serving as a regular panelist on the game show Funny You Should Ask. His recent television appearances also include Young Sheldon, Search Party, and Twenties.

Our love, thoughts and prayers go out to those close with Anderson and mourning the loss of the veteran comedian.

May he rest in peace.