Louie Anderson, an American comedian known for his roles in ‘Baskets’ and ‘Family Feud’, died at the age of 68 from blood cancer on January 21.

The iconic comedian and game show host was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1953. Anderson’s father was a trumpet player for 1950s American musician Hoagy Carmichael, and was “abusive” and alcoholic, in Anderson’s own words.

Also read | Emmy-winning ‘Baskets’ comedian Louie Anderson dies, heartfelt tributes pour in

The comedian was the second youngest among 11 children in his family. Anderson might have had more siblings, but revealed in a 2016 interview on ‘WTF with Marc Maron’ that his mother had given birth to 16 children over the course of her reproductive life, of whom five died at birth.

Not much is known about Anderson’s family, but it is understood that he was close to the youngest member of his family, Thomas ‘Tommy’ Anderson, who he had described as a “champion.”

However, the comedian’s youngest sibling died in his sleep at the age of 60 in February 2016, prompting an emotional response from Anderson. “He was such a great guy,” Anderson told the media following Tommy’s death.

Also read | Who is Louie Anderson?

“He was my sounding board all the time. I’d call him and go, ‘Tommy, what do you think about this?’ When I told him about me playing Christine Baskets, he was so excited that we would get a chance to honor our mom. He was very close to our mom. I used her and my five sisters as the prototype for Christine,” the comedian had said back in 2016, highlighting the influence of his family on his career as a comedian and comic actor.

In fact, Anderson’s first comedy special, ‘Mom! Louie’s Looking at Me Again’, was based on one of the expressions used by Tommy in their childhood. Further, Anderson’s Emmy-winning animated series from the 1990s, ‘Life with Louie’, was also based on his relationship with Tommy.