Actor and comedian Louie Anderson died on Jan. 21 at the age of 68.
According to THR, Anderson died of complications related to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Anderson began professional stand-up comedy in 1984, appearing on The Tonight Show. Two years later, he'd appear in Quicksilver and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, along with a role on an episode of Remington Steele. However, arguably his first major role was playing Maurice in 1988's Coming to America opposite Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. "I love Louie, but I think we were forced to put Louie in it," Hall joked in 2021 after the release of the sequel, Coming 2 America, which saw Anderson reprise his role. "We were forced to put in a white person."
"[The studio was] like, 'There has to be a white person in the movie.' I was like, 'What?' So who was the funniest white guy around? We knew Louie was cool, so that's how Louie got in the movie," Murphy added.
After Coming to America, Anderson's star continued to rise, and in 1994, he began headlining his own self-titled animated series, Life With Louie, which ran for four years and 27 episodes. He also starred in The Louie Show, which ran for six episodes in 1996.
Anderson's most recent notable work beyond Coming 2 America was a leading role in FX's Baskets, where he appeared in all 40 episodes.