Louie Anderson has died at age of 68 after battling blood cancer.
The comedian passed away in Las Vegas on Friday morning, his publicist confirmed.
Anderson had entered hospital earlier this week for treatment of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, a form of cancer.
There is no indication yet as to when Anderson was diagnosed with his health struggles.
Louie Anderson has died at 68, after it was revealed he was battling cancer (Pic, 2018)
His longtime publicist Glenn Schwartz first confirmed the news to Deadline.
A statement obtained by PA from his representative said: ‘Iconic comedian Louie Anderson passed away peacefully on Friday morning January 21 in Las Vegas at age 68.
‘He is survived by his two sisters, Lisa and Shanna Anderson.’
The news comes after his friend, comedy actor Pauly Shore, said yesterday that he was saying his goodbyes to Anderson.
Shore, 53, took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon, revealing he just left the hospital in Las Vegas, where Anderson had been surrounded by his family.
Last year Louie expressed surprise after learning Eddie Murphy was ‘forced’ to cast him in the 1988 hit comedy Coming to America because studio execs wanted to include a ‘white person’
Anderson played Maurice, a worker at the McDowell’s fast food restaurant, in the 1988 blockbuster comedy
Gone: Louie Perry Anderson will be remembered fondly by fans for his stand-up work and film roles in movies such as Coming To America
‘Attention comedians and @TheComedyStore 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,’ Shore said.
Last year Louie revealed he had shed 40 pounds with the help of intermittent fasting.
‘I started the pandemic at about 370 or 380 pounds depending on what I was leaning on,’ he said on Conan.
‘And now I’m 340. I’m trying to get 275 so I can get into some of my mom’s actual clothes,’ he said, referring to his role on Baskets where he played Zach Galifianakis’s mother Christine Baskets.
‘I’m on the intermittent fast. One minute I’m eating, the next minute I’m not. Then I’m eating again. I figure, that way, I’m only eating for 30 minutes out of 60, which is half. I’m trying to get down to 40/20 so I’m not eating for 40 and eating for 20.’
‘No, it’s a wonderful thing, the intermittent fasting,’ he added.
The actor also said he would have to ‘retire’ his ‘fat jokes’.
‘My first joke, I walked up on stage and I said, “I can’t stay long, I’m in between meals.”‘
The winner of three Emmy awards, Louie had a prolific career which included roles in Baskets and the hit film Coming to America.
He returned for its sequel, Coming 2 America, last year.
Last year Louie expressed surprise after learning Eddie Murphy was ‘forced’ to cast him in the 1988 hit comedy Coming to America because studio execs wanted to include a ‘white person’.
Murphy made the claim during an appearance on NBC’s Today, stating: ‘The whole cast was black, and the studio was like ‘We have to have someone white in this movie or we’re not going to make it’… So that’s how Louie wound up in the film.’
Anderson – who played fast food worker Maurice in the blockbuster comedy – spent the past 33 years unaware that he was a token inclusion, and took to Twitter to share his shock.
‘Wait, what?’ he wrote in a Twitter post shared above a clip of Murphy making the claim.
Anderson was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, making his nationally-televised comedy debut on The Tonight Show in 1984.
He won his first Emmy for playing Christine Baskets in the FX comedy series Baskets, which ran from 2016 to 2019
Last year Louie revealed he had shed 40 pounds with the help of intermittent fasting
He had small roles in movies like Cloak & Dagger and was cast alongside Bronson Pinchot in The Greenhorn, before he was replaced by Mark Linn-Baker in what would become Perfect Strangers, which ran for eight seasons.
He also starred in small roles in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Coming to America and more while continuing to perform stand-up comedy.
He created and starred in The Louie Show in 1996 and continued to work in movies and TV throughout the 2000s.
Anderson won his first Emmy for playing Christine Baskets in the FX comedy series Baskets, which ran from 2016 to 2019.
He was a familiar face elsewhere on TV, including as host of a revival of the game show Family Feud from 1999 to 2002, and on comedy specials and in frequent late-night talk show appearances.
Anderson voiced an animated version of himself as a kid in Life With Louie. He created the cartoon series, which first aired in prime time in late 1994 before moving to Saturday morning for its 1995-98 run. Anderson won two Daytime Emmy Awards for the role.
He made guest appearances in several TV series, including Scrubs and Touched by an Angel.
He also authored several books, including The F Word: How to Survive Your Family, Goodbye Jumbo… Hello Cruel World, and Hey Mom: Stories for My Mother, But You Can Read Them Too.
Roles: He had small roles in movies like Cloak & Dagger and was cast alongside Bronson Pinchot in The Greenhorn, before he was replaced by Mark Linn-Baker in what would become Perfect Strangers, which ran for eight seasons; pictured on Young Sheldon
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