With many of the public figures that we note the passing of, our reaction is “Why did they die so soon?” We may even experience denial or disbelief, and have to read the report at several sources before we consider it credible. Guys like Norm Macdonald and Bob Saget just seemed like they had a lot more laughs left in them, and they even looked too young to die. Even fuckin’ Screech, although we were through with him, seemed to have decades of mileage left on his tires.

That’s not true of Louie. In fact, I thought the opposite when I read the headlines: “How the hell did that guy ever live to be 68?” If you compare him to male celebrities of a comparable generation and body heft, his longevity was downright miraculous. John Candy was just a bit older than Louis, and Chris Farley was a decade younger, but they left us long ago. That said, don’t get me wrong. I loved the guy, as did so many others. He seemed like a kind and gentle soul, and I certainly didn’t want him to die.

I was just surprised that it took so long.

Other inappropriate remarks:

  • If the Grim Reaper just had to claim two obese, 70ish guys this week, I guess I was willing to accept Mr. Loaf as one of them, but Louis Anderson would not have been among my choices.
  • It is surely a demonstration of the power of cancer, that it could get this guy before he died of heart disease, lung disease or diabetes.

13 thoughts on “R.I.P. Louie Anderson

  1. Few things are harder in the human experience than effectively covering up your smugness when a fat person dies.

    1. There is one thing more difficult than covering up the smugness – covering up the laughter. I always try to hide my face from the relatives at the wake, especially when I see that jumbo-sized casket.

      The worst moment always comes when they ask me to be a pallbearer, and I won’t do it until I know how many other people are sharing the load. Damned if I’m going to tote around my Shaq-sized acquaintances with only five other guys to help.

  2. This is the Internet, so I can tell you I look just like Brad Pitt, only better looking. But more than one of my students told me I looked like Louie Anderson. In all honesty, Louis had a couple of hundred pounds on me. But his death, combined with my doctor telling me yesterday that my most recent blood tests indicated I should get a bunch more tests does have me contemplating my mortality a little bit. My Dad died at age 59 and I’m still only 54. Plus, I have the fact that I don’t smoke and never have. But if I suddenly stop posting my minority opinions around here, you guys will know what happened to me…

  3. My father somehow made it to 75 being obese ( 6’2″ 300 lbs.) at least half he life. He died of a heart attack. When I talked his doctor afterwards the Dr asked “if I had seen any warning signs?” ….. ummm… I think doctors have gotten a little to PC and not calling people out on their weight.

    1. The Mayo Clinic has (or at least had) a free medical outreach program in the Rochester area. A friend of a friend would go in every three years for his free exam and they’d tell him the same thing: you could really stand to lose about 35 pounds. Finally, they said this to him when he was 85 years old. “What for?,” he said, “all my skinny friends are dead.”

  4. Singer Meat Loaf died after falling seriously ill with COVID-19, according to TMZ. He had previously spoken out against vaccine mandates and COVID rules, saying: “If I die, I die, but I’m not going to be controlled”

  5. The next 3 celebrities to die will be Gérard Depardieu, Henry Kissinger, and you guessed it, Frank Stallone.

    1. We really have only one rule on the site – no sock puppets. There is nothing wrong with your actual posts, but please choose one identity and stick with it.

  6. Sad to say, my thoughts were very close to Scoop’s. The only surprise was that it was cancer.

    He had a lot of jokes about his very large (in number) family, of which he was the youngest, or almost that. I don’t recall him ever explicitly saying this, but I got the sense that not many of them were still alive.

  7. Anderson actually had two heart procedures done when he was 50 years old. That may have had something to do with extending his life span.

    I always liked him — I first saw him on the old Star Search TV show, and his gentle, self-deprecating style of humor always appealed to me as a kid.

    1. Underneath that cool, low-key, relatable exterior was a cool, low-key, relatable guy. He was very generous about helping new-comers and did a lot to build the stand-up comedy scene around the Twin Cities. Damn funny in person, too.

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