Harry Anderson Biography

Fast Facts

• Had a transient childhood, living in various cities such as Chicago, Las Vegas and San Francisco
• Performed as a street magician as a youth and ran a street-hustling shell game in San Francisco at the age of 16
• Not all were pleased with his street hustling: His jaw was once broken by an indignant victim of a con
• Acted in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the early 1970s
• Guest starred on the sitcom Cheers as likable con man Harry "The Hat" Gittes
• In 1989, coauthored a book about magic, swindles and trickery titled Games You Can't Lose: A Guide for Suckers
• Opened a nightclub in New Orleans called Oswald's Speakeasy in 2005