Louis C.K. Biography
Louis C.K. is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He's a reality-style stand-up comedian who performs his own satirical material, a Grammy and Emmy Award winner, and screenwriter of tragicomedy series including «Lucky Louie», «Baskets», «Horace and Pete», and «I Love You, Daddy». In 2015, he was the first comedian to have three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden during the same tour. He is also known in connection with the sexual harassment scandal. Net worth: $35 million.
Childhood-youth: Washington - Mexico - Boston
The boy, born in the fall of 1967 in the family of a software engineer and female economist from Washington, was named Louis. His mother, Mary Louise (nee Davis), and father, Luis Szekely, gave their son and three daughters a rich mix of heritage: Irish and Hungarian-Jewish from his father's side and Mexican from his mother's.
The Szekely family lived in Mexico for six years, and then they returned to America. Louis, who spoke Spanish perfectly, began to study English at the Newton (a suburb of Boston) North School, which he graduated in 1985.
In 1977, his parents divorced. All four children lived with their mother, who spent most of her time at work and couldn't give them the attention they needed. Louis was often frustrated that his mother came home late and watched TV shows he thought were terrible. His infrequent contact with his father, who had remarried, wasn't satisfying either. In the eighth grade, Louis tried drugs and soon found himself thinking that he used LSD every weekend.
Career as a humorist
Louis gave his first stand-up performance in 1985. It was at an open mic night at one of Boston's clubs. He was given five minutes, but his material and prepared sketches didn't even fill three minutes, After this disappointing debut, the aspiring comedian stepped away from performing for a couple of years before eventually returning to his passion.
By then, the aspiring stand-up was already living in Manhattan. In addition to his own performances, Louis wrote material for Conan O'Brien and David Letterman's shows. After releasing his short film "Ice Cream," he started getting much more collaboration offers. Louis worked on scripts—first for The Dana Carvey Show, then for Chris Rock. His works were nominated for Emmy Awards three times, and finally won one in the late '90s. At the same time, C.K. also worked as a director, shooting the black-and-white film "Tomorrow Night" from his own script.
By then, the comedian had already been working the stand-up circuit for 15 years but was considering quitting due to lukewarm audience reactions. But ultimately, he rethought his approach to comedy. During that Houston performance, he wasn't yet the «sad comedian» Louis C.K., but he was getting close to that persona. Soon, his signature stage persona crystallized: a lazy, balding, overweight middle-aged guy dealing with an ex-wife, two daughters, and massive resentment toward the world and himself.
According to Zoomboola.com, around the same time, he wrote and directed his own feature film «Pootie Tang,» starring Chris Rock. C.K. also co-wrote scripts for the comedies «Down to Earth» and «I Think I Love My Wife.» As an actor, Louis appeared in several comedy series including «One Night Stand» with Jamaine Clement, «Lucky Louie» with Pamela Adlon, and «Just for Laughs» with Debra DiGiovanni. His comedy album «Chewed Up» earned an Emmy nomination.I don't stop eating when I'm full! My meal ends when I begin to hate myself. And then I stop.
C.K.'s career breakthrough came in 2007 with his first hour-long HBO special «Shameless.» The title perfectly captured the content—it felt like nothing was off-limits for the comedian.
Looking to experiment, Louis created the comedy-drama web series «Horace and Pete,» co-starring with Steve Buscemi. The story unfolds in a bar passed down through generations for hundreds of years, with each owner traditionally named either Horace or Pete. The bar is failing, but complicated family dynamics prevent any easy solutions. Episodes varied in length—anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour—and viewers shouldn't expect happy endings. The unconventional series won a Peabody Award.«Relations with a baby are not complicated. Here, in principle, the only goal is not to let him die».
Accusation of sexual harassment
2017 proved to be a devastating year for the comedian. At the height of his popularity, he'd just released a new special and brought his black-and-white film «I Love You, Daddy» to the Toronto International Film Festival. In addition to C.K., the dramatic comedy stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Helen Hunt, John Malkovich.
Internet users immediately recalled Louis C.K.'s jokes about rape, for example:
The public outcry was deafening—especially with similar accusations swirling around Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey.Rape is bad. You need to have a good reason for rape. Like if you want to f*** somebody and they won't let you.
Louis confirmed the allegations and expressed remorse: «These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay because I never showed a woman my dick without asking first, which is also true. But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn't a question. It's a predicament for them».
The Orchard, which was set to distribute his film, immediately canceled their deal. His voice was even scrubbed from the animated series «Gravity Falls». Though he'd voiced the character Max in «The Secret Life of Pets», he was recast for the sequel. Louis simply disappeared from the screens and radio shows.
Louis C.K. personal life
Setting aside his controversial behavior with female colleagues, Louis C.K. could be described as someone who values family life. As a young man, Louis met aspiring artist Alix Bailey at a Boston party.The young comedian was immediately smitten and proposed on the spot, but Alix sensibly told him to sober up first.
Alix is not a media personality, but she can be seen in the short film «Searching for Nixon» directed by Louis. Naturally, his wife became a major source of material for his comedy. While stand-up comedians often exaggerate for effect, things apparently weren't all rosy between Louis and Alix. After 12 years of marriage, the couple divorced.
C.K. has publicly credited his relationship with French actress Blanche Gardin for getting his personal life back on track.I don't raise children. I train future adults so they're ready for all the horrors waiting for them.
Louis C.K. now
In 2018, the comedian made several attempts to return to the stage in the stand-up comedy genre, first in Manhattan, then at Comedy Cellar club. Two protesters were waiting outside with handwritten signs, demanding the show be canceled. Louis stayed true to form, pushing boundaries with his humor.
According to IMDB, in April 2020, the comedian released the highly anticipated one-hour concert "Sincerely Louis CK". It was his first release since the 2017 sexual misconduct scandal that led Netflix, HBO, and Disney to drop him.
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