As Anderson told People in 2018, he was one of 11 children, and he grew up in a St. Paul housing project. He described his father as an abusive alcoholic.
According to The Orlando Sentinel, there was very little love or affection between the elder Anderson and his children, and indeed, much of Louie’s early life was spent trying to guess what sort of mood his father was in. Even when he was in a “good” mood, so acerbic was Louis William Anderson that his day could be ruined by seeing someone he didn’t like. He was the type of man who, according to Vulture, would slow down to glare at a stranger for no reason other than the person looked “different.” “Get my rifle!” Louie joked that his father would say.
He also wasn’t above endangering his own children with his purported alcoholism. On one occasion, Louie and his younger brother were in the car when his father was driving, and the elder Anderson drove off the road, into a snowbank, while bouncing off trees. On another occasion, a young Louie saw a toy that he wanted, but his father balked at the $4.88 price tag, only to spend $5 on a case of beer a few hours later. Apparently, Louie also witnessed his father beating his mother.
