Posted on 09/14/2021 12:20:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
MacDonald is dead at 61 after nine-year private battle with cancer…
Norm Macdonald, whose laconic delivery of sharp and incisive observations made him one of Saturday Night Live‘s most influential and beloved cast member, has died.
Macdonald’s death was announced to Deadline by his management firm Brillstein Entertainment. The comedian’s longtime producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra, who was with him at the time of his death this morning, said Macdonald had been battling cancer for nearly a decade but was determined to keep his health struggles private, away from family, friends and fans.
“He was most proud of his comedy,” Hoekstra said. “He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”
Macdonald was an SNL cast member from 1993-98, making his greatest impact as the anchor of the show’s “Weekend Update” segments for three seasons. Remembered both for his droll style — and for his refusal to go easy on O.J. Simpson despite reported pressure from SNL execs — Macdonald would prove one of the most impactful “Update” anchors, pivoting away from the slapstick approach of Chevy Chase and toward the more barbed political approach of his successor Colin Quinn.
Born on October 17, 1959, in Quebec City, Macdonald started his show business career in the comedy clubs of Canada, developing the deadpan style that would become both his trademark and a highly influential touchstone for a generation of comics. A contestant on Star Search in 1990, he was hired to write for Roseanne Barr’s sitcom Roseanne for the 1992-93 season before landing a coveted gig at NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
Macdonald’s departure from the show was controversial in itself, and he often attributed his firing to his continued lambasting of O.J. Simpson as a murderer despite what he said was the displeasure of Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC’s West Coast division, who Macdonald said was a friend of Simpson.
dang, that dude did make me laugh
Very funny dude. Sad news.
I didn’t even know he was sick!
Man that’s too bad. I think he had conservative leanings. Read his book “Based on a True Story: A Memoir (Hardcover) By Macdonald, Norm”. It was a very good book and kind of poignant.
Well, that’s another kick in the stomach. I loved watching him on youtube. Miss him already.
Wow, that’s too young. I’ll miss that guy.
What a shock! One of the most shrewdly funny men ever!
By the time he was on there (SNL) I had stopped watching for more than a decade by then. So can’t say as I know him anyway. But he certainly had to have been better than most of what has been on that show lately.
He was on SNL when it was funny
So sad....he was one of the good ones!!!
RIP Norm. You’ll be missed. Make ‘em laugh in Heaven.
That is sad. He was a favorite.
He played death on Family Guy (the first time.) He also was great as Mike Heck’s ner’do well brother on the Middle.
His dark, sarcastic view on the world was fun.
And special points for going out in a non-hollywood private manner.
Rest in Peace, Norm.
You and me both! Wow. This is tragic.
RIP Norm. A very funny guy. Made me laugh many times.
Am I the only one who has no recollection of Norm MacDonald at all?
>You and me both! Wow. This is tragic.
I kinda knew something was wrong. He stopped tweeting from last July and his mother was always around him since last year. You could tell he was greying much quicker normal and by this time last year he looked like he was in his 70s.
Buddy of Dennis Miller.
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