 Louie Anderson, Comedian, Actor Emmy Award winning Louie Anderson's road to success has not been free of obstacles. On October 10, 1978, young Louie jumped on stage for the first time in a 50-seat comedy club in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The debut was the result of a dare from a co-worker at a children's home where Louie worked as a counselor for abused children. "The first time on stage I wasn't as nervous as you might expect," Louie recollects. "I remember that whatever jitters I felt were overwhelmed by the exciting prospect of all the attention and love seated in front of me. With the first laugh, I knew I was hooked, a junkie for life." At first, Louie drew on his obvious obesity for laughs. "My first words were 'Seconds, please.' Most kids in kindergarten napped on a little rug. I had a braided 9x12." Quite by accident, he stumbled onto his large family (Louie is the tenth of eleven children) as another gold mine of material. "My dad never hit us when I was a kid. He carried a gun." The jokes just kept flowing. In 1981, Louie won the St. Louis Comedy Competition, where he met Henny Youngman and began to write jokes for the "King of One-liners". The next year, acting on the encouragement of friends, Louie headed for the bigger pastures of Los Angeles, leaving home in his 1976 Malibu Classic with $600 in his pocket and a full tank of gas. In 1985, he went back to Minneapolis and with the support of his hometown, produced his own comedy special, which later sold to SHOWTIME. Proving his widespread appeal, it became the highest rated program that month on the cable network. Louie moved on to countless appearances with Jay Leno, David Letterman, Arsenio Hall, Pat Sajak, Joan Rivers and on "Comic Relief". He co-starred in such television shows as "Grace Under Fire" and "Remington Steele". He has appeared in the feature films "Quicksilver" and "Coming to America" and his voice is that of a lead character in the animated feature film "Bebe's Kids". His fourth comedy special "Louie in St. Louie" aired on SHOWTIME and is called by many as his best ever. In recent years, he has performed throughout America to sold out audiences in concert halls and comedy clubs. Additionally, he is a frequent-featured performer at Bally's Celebrity Room in Las Vegas. Louie Anderson now brings to television his stand-up comedic talent that has entertained audiences for more than eighteen years through an animated series entitled "Life with Louie" for the Fox Children's Network, which he co-created with Matt O'Callaghan. The series highlights Anderson's writing and voice-over talents as the narrator, Little Louie and Little Louie's Dad. In 1997 "Life with Louie" received the following awards: "The Humanitas Prize" for children's animation writing (3 consecutive years) "The Genesis Award" for ethical treatment of animals "Emmy Award"
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