Remembering Minnesota’s Louie Anderson And His Ties To Duluth

Minnesota Comedian Louie Anderson always made me laugh with his Midwest charm and he even had ties to Duluth.

Louie passed away on the morning of January, 21st 2022 after recently entering the hospital to treat diffuse large B cell lymphoma. He was 68 years old and was known for his roles in television ("Baskets" where he played a mom that he based on his own mom), movies ("Coming To America"), his Midwest stand-up routine and was even a game show host ("Family Feud"). He was also born in St. Paul.

I remember growing up and my parents talking about a TV show being based in Duluth. I couldn't believe it. It only ran for about six episodes, but I thought it was so cool. It was called "The Louie Show" and it was about him being a therapist in Duluth. The show even had a few cutaway scenes of our beautiful city. Even the intro shows Louie wearing a Duluth Sweater, check it out:

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There were rumors that the pilot was filmed in Duluth, but it doesn't sound like that actually happened. Brian Cranston even played Louie's best friend who was a Duluth Police Detective on the show. You can check out a clip from episode 3 here where you can see the "Breaking Bad" actor:

Other notable people on the show included Laura Innes who played Dr. Kerry Weaver on "ER" and Paul Feig who directed the series "Freaks and Geeks" and directed episodes of several notable sitcoms like "The Office" and "Arrested Development". According the The News Tribune Attic, the show ranked 67th according to their rankings and the final episode appeared on March 20th, back in 1996.

My thought and prayers go out to his friends and family. I also wanted to say thank you, Mr. Anderson for putting Duluth in the spotlight back in the 90's. You can also check out his hilarious performance on National TV when he did a stand-up routine on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" which aired in 1984:

Check out other celebrities born in Minnesota: