Louis C.K. (1967)

• Comedian

Louis Székely (born September 12, 1967), known professionally as Louis C.K. , is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, and editor.

He began his career writing for several comedy shows in the 1990s and early 2000s for comedians including David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Chris Rock. Also in this period, he was directing surreal short films and went on to direct two features—Tomorrow Night (1998) and Pootie Tang (2001)—before he starred in the short-lived HBO television sitcom Lucky Louie in 2006.

Louie, an acclaimed semi-autobiographical comedy-drama series that C.K. created, stars in, writes, directs, executive produces, and is the primary editor of, began airing in 2010 on FX. He had supporting acting roles in the films The Invention of Lying (2009), American Hustle, Blue Jasmine (both 2013), and Trumbo (2015). During an extended Louie hiatus, C.K. created and starred in his web series Horace and Pete in 2016, and voiced the lead role in the animated film The Secret Life of Pets the same year.

He released his debut comedy album, Live in Houston, in 2001 directly through his website and became among the first performers to offer direct-to-fan sales of tickets to his stand-up shows, as well as DRM-free video concert downloads, via his website. C.K. has released nine comedy albums in his career, often directing and editing their specials as well. He is known for his use of observational, self-deprecating, dark and vulgar humor.

C.K. has won a 2012 Peabody Award and six Emmy awards, as well as numerous awards for The Chris Rock Show, Louie, and his stand-up specials Live at the Beacon Theater (2011) and Oh My God (2013).

He has won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album twice. Rolling Stone ranked C.K.'s stand-up special Shameless number three on their "Divine Comedy: 25 Best Stand-Up Specials and Movies of All Time" list.