Over the last decade, Louis C.K. transitioned from a moderately successful stand-up into
one of the world's most recognizable comedians. But while he frequently mines his personal
life for comedic gold both on stage and on his acclaimed TV series Louie, there's probably
a lot about the comic you don't know about. Here's a look at the untold truth of Louis
C.K.
C.K. is actually his last name
If you were wondering what the initials C.K. stand for, we've got your answer. C.K.'s family
name, which is got from his Mexican-Hungarian dad, is Székely. As you can imagine, the
unusual name caused lots of problems with mis-spellings and mispronunciations, so Louis
altered it slightly from Szekely to C.K. so it would be easier for fans to both spell
and say. Thanks, Louis!
He holds dual citizenship
Though he was born in Washington, D.C., Louis C.K. moved with his family to Mexico City
while he was still a baby. At the age of seven, the family returned to the United States,
settling in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts, where C.K. struggled to fit in because he
spoke Spanish much better than English.
"I came to America as a little Mexican boy. It's part of my history, was coming to 'America!
It's moy buenito I was like a little Mexican boy!'"
These days, C.K. says that while he's mostly forgotten his native tongue, he still holds
dual citizenship in both Mexico and the United States, and has a Mexican passport. Muy bien!
He went to school with Matt LeBlanc
The chipper laugh tracks of Friends seem worlds away from the darkly realistic comedy of Louie.
But the shows share a common bond, as C.K. actually went to school with Friends star
Matt LeBlanc. The two were classmates in elementary school, junior high, and high school, both
graduating from North Newton High in 1985. Small world!
He's a cult filmmaker
Before he became a household name as a stand-up comedian, Louis C.K. started his showbiz career
as an accomplished cult film director. His first mini-flick, Trash Day, is an oddball
romp about garbage thieves. C.K.'s follow up, Caesar Salad, got him on the festival
circuit, while Ice Cream screened at Sundance and earned him an award at the Alpine Film
Festival, helping him break into TV as a writer.
A later scripting gig with The Chris Rock Show set up his first studio picture, Pootie
Tang, a feature-length sketch starring the show's faux-Blaxploitation character. The
comedian wrote and directed the picture but met with heavy resistance from the studio.
Paramount fired C.K. and re-cut the film, but it failed to find an audience, nearly
killing his career in the process. Since then, however, the unusual movie has gained a cult
following.
"Shooting the movie was a great time, but then they started coming coming and visiting
and started saying how great they thought it was and that was really...scary."
Saturday Night Live shot him down
In 1993, Louis C.K. was one of a number of struggling stand-up comedians who got the
chance of a lifetime - an audition for Saturday Night Live. But while several of his fellow
comics including Sarah Silverman, Jay Mohr, and Dave Attell ended up landing gigs either
writing for SNL or starring on the show, C.K. was passed over for a job.
The story has a happy ending though. Not only did the audition eventually lead to a job
writing for Late Night with Conan O'Brien, C.K. has since gone on to host Saturday Night
Live four times.
"I'm very honored honestly, to be asked to host it, so thanks and I'm glad you guys are
here. Yeah, it's fine."
Charity case
In 2011, C.K. released a stand up special, Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater, through
his website for $5. The Internet-only performance netted him a cool million bucks. C.K. told
Jimmy Fallon that he was "uncomfortable" earning that much money for the show, so he donated
a quarter of a million dollars to charity. On another occasion, C.K. earned $50,000 for
charity with an appearance on Jeopardy. Now that's a stand-up stand-up.
"Cue the deer & antelope--This is Kansas' state song."
"Louis!"
"Oh boy. Why did I ring in?"
Dad time
After he split with his wife, Louis C.K. was faced with the challenge of trying to run
a hit TV series while also sharing custody of their two children. His solution was simple:
as the writer, producer, director, and star of Louie, C.K. can kind of make his own schedule,
so he arranged it to only shoot episodes of the series on the days when the kids are with
his ex-wife. Nice job, dad!
He knows how to fight
If you're thinking about going to a show to heckle C.K., you might want to think again.
C.K. is an avid boxer, explaining to Fresh Air host Terry Gross, "when you're boxing,
you have to think under pressure, and that's what standup is like. So it was a good kind
of metaphorical training." Just how into boxing is C.K.? Well, he trained with former light
welterweight title holder Micky Ward, who was the subject of the Oscar winning Mark
Wahlberg film The Fighter. That's legit.
Sexual harassment accusations
In 2015, Gawker published a report accusing Louis C.K. of sexual harassment against female
comics. That led to a barrage of accusations and rumors led by Roseanne Barr, who alleged
it was a widely known industry secret that C.K. was a creeper. She told The Daily Mail
"These allegations have been leveled and talked about for years. I do not have first hand
knowledge, though have heard women make these allegations."
C.K. has mostly remained silent about the allegations, telling Vulture he lets his work
speak for him. When asked about the allegations, he said, "If you need your public profile
to be all positive, you’re sick in the head. I do the work I do, and what happens next
I can’t look after. So my thing is that I try to speak to the work whenever I can.
Just to the work and not to my life."
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