Sometimes known as the "Man of a Thousand Voices", Little has recorded nine comedy albums and made numerous television appearances, including three HBO specials.

His father, Lawrence Peniston Little, was a surgeon who served as a lieutenant commander in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II and then worked for the Department of Veterans' Affairs until his death in 1959.

At 17, he and his friend and fellow impressionist Geoff Scott won a talent contest on station CBOT in Ottawa, the first time he was paid for his impressionist skills, which led to an appearance on Pick the Stars, a national talent contest broadcast by CBC Television in 1956, where the duo tied for first place.

[6] This, in turn, led to an appearance on The Jackie Rae Show during the 1956–57 season during which Little premiered his impression of Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton to a national audience.

[6][3] In 1961, for 26 weeks, he co-hosted Folderol a half-hour suppertime show of light humour and interviews on television station CBOT.

[3] Little's American career was helped by Peppiatt and Aylesworth, a Canadian writing team who had moved to Hollywood and worked on various specials and variety series, including The Judy Garland Show.

[11][3] Television appearances on variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Rudy Vallee, Mike Douglas, George Burns, and Al Hirt followed over the next two years.

In 1966 and 1967, Little appeared in ABC-TV's Judy Carne sitcom Love on a Rooftop as the Willises' eccentric neighbour, Stan Parker.

[13] Little later appeared as Nixon on the soap opera Santa Barbara, in a 1991 fantasy sequence regarding Gina's ideal sperm donor.

In response to his imitation of Jack Benny, the comedian sent Little an 18-carat gold money clip containing this message: "With Bob Hope doing my walk and you doing my voice, I can be a star and do nothing."

Taped in England, these comedy-variety shows consisted entirely of celebrity impersonations, with the actors in full costume and makeup for every sketch.

The cast included Little, Frank Gorshin, Marilyn Michaels, George Kirby, British comedian Joe Baker, Fred Travalena, Charlie Callas, and Peter Goodwright.

Little portrayed famous comedians in established roles (W. C. Fields as Ebenezer Scrooge, Paul Lynde as Bob Cratchit, et al.).

Little starred along with Melanie Chartoff, Michael Richards, Shelley Hack, Jenilee Harrison, Earle Doud, and Vaughn Meader, making light of U.S. President Ronald Reagan's first few months in the White House.

He performed similar duties to dub an imitation of James Cagney's stroke-impaired voice in the 1984 TV movie Terrible Joe Moran[citation needed] and in the 1991 TV special Christmas at the Movies by providing an uncredited dub for actor/dancer Gene Kelly, who had lost his voice.

Little's performance was described as eclectic, impersonating Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln and doing Winston Churchill giving a rousing speech.

His appearances continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s; he headlined at the Desert Inn for eight years in the late 1970s and 1980s, at the MGM Grand with Nell Carter in 1985; at Bally's, with Charo in 1986; the Sands in 1991 and 1992, and at the Golden Nugget again in 1991.

"[8] Little sold his house in Los Angeles and relocated to Las Vegas in 1990, and bought a home in 1992,[34] when he signed an exclusive, long-term contract with the Sahara, staging a revamped version of The Kopykats with other impersonators.

[35][37] The Tropicana closed in April 2024 and was subsequently demolished to make way for a new stadium for the Athletics baseball team for when it moves to Las Vegas from Oakland in 2028.

Although President George W. Bush was reported to have enjoyed Little's performance, it was panned by some reviewers for "his ancient jokes and impressions of dead people (Johnny Carson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan).

[36] In 2021, CBS News Sunday Morning profiled Little; during the interview, he stated he believed it was the first time he had been on network television in 30 years, and hoped it would "go over well!

[50] Little was engaged to magician Melinda Saxe, but she broke-off the three-year relationship in 1991, saying she had discovered he had secretly videotaped them having sex in 1988.

Saxe sued Little for defamation, invasion of privacy, and inflicting emotional distress, claiming he had joked about their relationship on stage.

He was married to Marie Marotta from 2003 until her death in 2010 of a deliberate overdose of sleeping pills after years of suffering from migraines and chronic pain.

[55] He married his fourth wife, Catherine Brown, a former reality show contestant,[56] in a private ceremony in 2012; they divorced in October of that year.

[61] In 2021, he asserted to the Daily Beast his belief that Donald Trump won the 2020 United States presidential election.

Fred Little also performed in smaller venues as an impressionist in his own right[63][64] and appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson on January 25, 1979 and an episode of An Evening at the Improv in 1990, both times with Rich Little hosting.