Biography

The son of Harry Anderson and Suzanne Johnson, magician-turned-actor Harry Anderson was reportedly once a Three-card Monte dealer in New York City. He graduated in 1970 as the valedictorian of North Hollywood High School. Before he became an actor, he taught a course on how to detect fraudsters and confidence ("con") artists.

In the summer of 2005, he opened a nightclub in the French Quarter of New Orleans called "Oswald's Speakeasy," where he was often featured as a performer.

When appearing on Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1982, he performed a "geek trick" by sticking a long needle through the skin of his forearm. He said to some squeamish audience members "It's just a trick!" Then to show that it wasn't "real," he moved the needle back and forth and blood began to pour out of the "wound".

Anderson and wife, Elizabeth Morgan, survived Hurricane Katrina by remaining in New Orleans, where they owned a store called "Sideshow" and a nightclub named "Oswald's Speakeasy", although later relocated to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2006.

His first wife, Leslie Pollack, is reportedly a certified witch. The couple had two children before divorcing: Eva Fay Anderson (Eva Anderson) (born 1981) and Dashiell William Anderson (Dashiell Anderson) (born 1985).

The biggest challenge in New Orleans has been to find a worker who can climb a ladder after lunch.

I'm not Hollywood. I'm a Quarter Rat. I belong here.

Even a fool knows you can't touch the stars, but it won't keep the wise from trying.

I'll give it a shot. But I don't know that a year from now I'm going to be here. Nobody does.

I am richer than Davy Crockett. I can settle back and do what I want to do. And what I want to do is card tricks and magic.