Known for his notoriously caustic – some would say, offensive – riffs on the sanctity of fatherhood and family life, puffy, flame-haired comedian Louis C.K. was a well-known fixture in comedy clubs beginning in the late 1980s and leading up to his current lead role on HBO’s groundbreaking and controversial sitcom, “Lucky Louie” (2006).
Born Louis Szekely (pronounced SEK-kay) in New York, on Sept. 12, 1967, C.K.’s family moved to Mexico shortly after his birth, making Spanish his first language. His heritage was an eclectic mixture of Mexican and Hungarian from his father, and Irish on his mother’s side. After six years in Mexico, the family returned to the States and settled into middle class, Newton, MA. In grade school, he resorted to going by C.K. when it became clear that “Szekely” was too difficult for anyone to pronounce correctly.
Though underage, C.K. began performing in Boston-area comedy clubs during his senior year of high school. In 1990, he made the big leap and moved to New York, continuing to make the rounds on the comedy circuit, as well as gain exposure by appearing on many televised comedy shows. In the early nineties, C.K. took his talent behind the scenes when he became one of the original writers for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” (NBC 1993- ) as well as “The Dana Carvey Show” (ABC 1996- ), the latter of which may have been too raunchy for American audiences and was soon cancelled.
In 1996, C.K. formed two pivotal business relationships – one, with HBO, which gave him his own comedy special, and the second, with comic Chris Rock, who hired him as a writer/producer for “The Chris Rock Show,” (HBO 1997-2000), earning C.K. an Emmy in 1998. That same year he wrote and directed his first feature film, “Tomorrow Night,” an independent comedy shot in black and white about a loner who marries an elderly woman, only to decide that she has too much baggage and ends up retreating back to his loner ways. His collaboration with Rock provided C.K. with the mother of all gigs – writing and directing his first major studio film – the critically maligned, yet nonetheless cult classic “Pooty Tang” (2001). The film, starring Rock, chronicled the exploits of a crazy musician/actor/folk hero of the ghetto, and was a C.K. idea created for “The Chris Rock Show.”
As the years went by, the more domesticated C.K. grew with home and family, the more brash his stand-up comedy became. His wife and daughters bore the brunt of his wrath, with jokes that included his young daughter expletives and conceding that he understood why people threw their babies in dumpsters. Even with the comic flying under the radar, HBO continued its love fest for C.K., commissioning another comedy special from him in 2005. That same year, he was chosen by both Variety and Hollywood Reporter as a comic to watch.
2006 was a benchmark year for C.K. He collaborated yet again with friend Chris Rock, sharing writing credits on the Rock-directed feature “I Think I Love My Wife” (2007). In June of 2006, HBO debuted its sitcom “Lucky Louie” – written, directed, produced by and starring C.K. Based on his real life, the sitcom was unafraid to offend the viewing audience. Known for its rampant foul language, full-frontal male nudity, and ugly, t-shirt-wearing sex between C.K. and his on-screen wife, Kim (Pamela S. Adlon) – all daringly performed in front of a live studio audience. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled by September of that same year, with HBO citing low ratings.