Louie Anderson is one of the most versatile and successful comedians working in Hollywood today, loved by the television audiences who never missed his nightly hit series Family Feud or his appearances on late night chat shows. He is adored by standing-room-only crowds in Las Vegas and respected by readers of his books. He is worshiped by the rising comics he mentors and encourages with his honesty and wisdom.

Louie recently competed in the ABC celebrity diving series, Splash. “This is my chance to make a difference … and not just in the water level of the pool,” he says. “It lets me show every big person out there, who needs some kind of catalyst to reclaim their lives, that they can do it too.”

Sharing the ups and downs of his childhood experiences as one of 11 children in Minnesota, Anderson crafted comedy routines that rang true for his early club audiences while reducing them to helpless fits of laughter, routines that led him from his career as a counselor to troubled children to the first-place trophy at the 1981 Midwest Comedy Competition. Henny Youngman, who hosted the competition, recognized the diamond-in-the-rough genius of the young comic and hired him as a writer, providing invaluable experience that soon put Louie in his own spotlight on comedy stages all over the country.

Johnny Carson, the comedy icon for generations of rising stars, invited Anderson to make his national television debut on the The Tonight Show in 1984, and the rest is history. Leno, Letterman, Comic Relief and Showtime and HBO specials followed, making Anderson a household name and opening doors for him as an actor. He has guest-starred in sitcoms like Grace Under Fire and dramas such as Touched by an Angel and Chicago Hope, and he has had memorable featured roles in film comedies such as Coming to America, opposite Eddie Murphy, and the classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He is also host of the hilarious Comedy Showcase, the late-night series that follows Saturday Night Live.

In 1995 Louie put his creative energies to work on the Saturday morning animated series Life with Louie. The long-running series based on Louie’s own childhood and his life with his father won three Humanitas Prizes for writing on a childrens’ animated series, making him the only three-time recipient of this award. It also earned a Genesis Award for its depiction of the proper treatment of animals and, most significantly, two Emmy Awards.

His best-selling books include Dear Dad – Letters From An Adult Child, a collection of alternately touching and outrageous letters from Anderson to his late father, and Good-bye Jumbo…Hello Cruel World, self-help for those who struggle with self-esteem issues, as only an award-winning comedian could write it.

Louie recently finished writing his newest installment on family, The F Word: How to Survive Your Family.

Speaking on: Realscreen Awards & Cocktail