What happened to Norm Macdonald? Comedian & Saturday Night Live star dies at 61

Canadian comic and "Saturday Night Live" star Norm Macdonald passed away on Tuesday after battling cancer. Macdonald who is known for his dead-pan delivery, died at the age of 61 after a decade-long battle with cancer. The comic sensation had begun his illustrious career as a writer on "Roseanne" in 1992 before he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1993. 

Lori Jo Hoekstra, Norm MacDonald's long-time producing partner mourned his death saying that Macdonald never wanted his diagnosis to impact his audience. "He was most proud of his comedy. He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic," Lori Jo Hoekstra, said in a statement. 

"He once wrote that 'a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.' He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly," he added.

What happened to Norm Macdonald?

Norm MacDonald who was particularly famous for his impressions of Hollywood stars such as Burt Reynolds, Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino, was privately fighting cancer for almost a decade. He had been diagnosed with the disease nine years prior and had chosen to keep his diagnosis to himself and only a few trusted friends. Norm MacDonald's cancer diagnosis never got out in public. After Norm MacDonald's death, his management team confirmed on Tuesday that the comedian-actor had passed away to the deadly disease.

Norm Macdonald movies and TV Shows 

Apart from being a "Saturday Night Live" regular, Norm MacDonald was known for his memorable stint as an anchor on "Weekend Update" until early 1998, when he was replaced by Colin Quinn. Critically acclaimed for his dry humour and non-sequiturs, the comedian's impressions of David Letterman, Larry King, Quentin Tarantino and others entertained the audience during his five-year run on the show. He also released comedy albums Me Doing Standup (2011) and Hitler’s Dog, Gossip & Trickery (2017). 

On the film front, MacDonald appeared in films like “Billy Madison,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and voiced a character 'Lucky the dog' in Eddie Murphy’s “Dr. Dolittle”. In 1998, he starred in the film “Dirty Work,” directed by Bob Saget based on a short story by Roald Dahl. He also voiced several other characters over the course of the next few years such as Lieutenant Yaphit from Fox’s sci-fi comedy “The Orville", the 3rd season of which is streaming on Hulu.

Norm Macdonald famous stand ups

Norm MacDonald's stand-ups which included several impressions of top actors were loved by all. Comedy Central had named him to its 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time. He was also one of the first stand-up comedians to joke about the COVID-19 pandemic on stage in 2020. In 2011, Comedy Central Records released 'Norm Macdonald: Me Doing Stand-Up", a DVD with special features, deleted scenes and uncensored and uncut stills from the comedian's standups.