Harry Laverne Anderson (born October 14, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and magician. He is best known for the role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984–92 television series Night Court. In addition to eight appearances on Saturday Night Live between 1981 and 1985, Anderson had a recurring guest role as con man Harry "The Hat" Gittes on Cheers, toured extensively as a magician, and did several magic/comedy shows for broadcast, including Harry Anderson's Sideshow (1987).

Biography

A longtime Mel Tormé fan, Anderson gave the eulogy at the singer's funeral. Judge Stone in Night Court was also a Tormé fan; the show's creator Reinhold Weege says the fact that Anderson was also a Tormé fan was completely coincidental.

Anderson kept a nominally low profile after Dave's World was canceled. Tired of L.A.'s glaring spotlight, Anderson moved to New Orleans in 2002. In the 1990s, he and his second wife Elizabeth opened a small shop in the French Quarter named "Sideshow" selling various "magic, curiosities, and apocrypha." In the summer of 2005, Anderson also opened a nightclub in the French Quarter called "Oswald's Speakeasy", located at 1331 Decatur Street at the corner of Esplanade Avenue. He performed a one-man show there called Wise Guy.

In August 2006, Anderson and his wife announced their decision to leave New Orleans and move to Asheville, North Carolina, citing concerns including declining tourism to the city, the re-election of Mayor Ray Nagin, and the depressed mood prevailing in New Orleans. Anderson appears in Hexing a Hurricane, a documentary about the first six months in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The Andersons sold Oswald's Speakeasy in October 2006. Anderson continues to present his evening show Wise Guy, which was originally developed for his theater in New Orleans.