Emmy-winning comedian Louie Anderson has died at 68

Louie Anderson appears during the 2017 Winter Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 12, 2017. Anderson, whose four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely and Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series “Baskets,” has died at age 68. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Louie Anderson, the long-time stand-up comic and star of the TV show Baskets, died Friday in Las Vegas. He was 68 years old.

According to his publicist Glenn Schwartz, Anderson died following complications from cancer.

Anderson was born in St. Paul, Minn., one of 11 children. His decades-long stand-up career started in small Midwest clubs. Then, in 1984, he earned a spot on The Tonight Show where he charmed the audience with his affable, self-deprecating brand of humor.