LIFELESS LOUIE
It’s not truly a DDP year until you have the death of a name celeb who would’ve been a popular lad hereabouts if they announced their cancer on the other side of New Year’s, but instead only reveals it days before their death and is a lucky unique for a theme team. Last year Siegfried-not-Roy took the mantle, only being an msc obit thanks to a surviving halves theme team, and this year hefty gap-toothed US comic Louie Anderson fulfills this dubious distinction as a unique hit for funnyman squad Laughter Kills.
Anderson’s self-depreciating stand-up routine began in the 80s, with his career launched by the support of Henry Youngman and further bolstered by appearances on late night shows throughout the decade. His 90s cartoon Life with Louie, inspired by his childhood and starring an eight-year-old caricature of himself, was absurdly popular in Romania of all places. Did Bucharest want their own the Hoff/Norman Wisdom/Jerry Lewis?
Before its current incarnation of Steve Harvey faux outraging at contestants mentioning genitalia, Anderson was part of a string of Family Feud hosts in the aughts. He was also noted for his portrayal of the mother in FX sitcom Baskets, an Emmy-winning role inspired by his own mother. Now it’s Baskets to caskets, following a lymphoma diagnosis that was only publicised three days before his death, aged 68.
Louie Anderson
24 March 1953 – 21 January 2022, aged 68
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 12 POINTS