On January 18, Louie Anderson’s publicist told TMZ that the “Life With Louie” creator had been admitted to a hospital in Las Vegas for treatment of a type of cancer known as large B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. While the cancer itself has a generally high survival rate, the treatment for it can be aggressive — though at the time, Anderson’s publicist assured TMZ that Anderson was comfortable during his hospital stay. This, therefore, made the news of the actor’s death on January 21 all the more shocking.
The actor and great comedy mind had already left a tremendous legacy within the entertainment world. Per Deadline, Anderson did not originally come from a comedy background, first working as a youth counselor before nabbing a writing gig after winning a comedy writing competition. After that, Anderson debuted his standup on Johnny Carson’s late night show in 1984, and went on to appear in movies like “Coming to America,” starring Eddie Murphy. In 1997 and 1998, Anderson won two respective Emmys for his autobiographical animated show “Life with Louie,” and hosted the game show “Family Feud” from 1999 to 2002.
