Beloved comedian and Saturday Night Live alum, Norm Macdonald, has died at the age of 61.
According to Deadline, Macdonald passed away Tuesday after a nine-year battle with cancer. Prior to his death, Macdonald had chosen to fight the disease in private with his producing partner and close friend, Lori Jo Hoekstra, saying a statement that "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."
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Macdonald was perhaps best known for his time on SNL, originating some iconic impressions of Bob Dole and Burt Reynolds as well as having a controversial run at the Weekend Update desk until he was later removed. Following his departure from SNL, Macdonald wrote and starred in the film Dirty Work and made appearances in Billy Madison, The People vs. Larry Flynt and Man on the Moon throughout the 1990s.
Macdonald went on to star in the ABC sitcom, The Norm Show, from 1999 through 2001 and make many appearances on other TV shows such as Fairly OddParents, The Larry Sanders Show, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Last Comic Standing, Girlboss and more. Recently, the comedian hosted his own talk show, Norm Macdonald Has a Show, on Netflix where he interviewed guests such as Chevy Chase, David Spade, Jane Fonda, David Letterman, and M. Night Shyamalan. The show was inspired by the Norm Macdonald Live podcast which the comedian started in 2013 and ran right up until the launch Netflix series.
Throughout it all, Macdonald had continued to perform stand-up all the way up until March of 2020. In response to the news of Macdonald's passing friends and fans have taken to Twitter to post tributes and share their favorite memories of the late comedian.
I am absolutely devastated about Norm Macdonald. Norm had the most unique comedic voice I have ever encountered and he was so relentlessly and uncompromisingly funny. I will never laugh that hard again. I'm so sad for all of us today.— Conan O'Brien (@Conan O'Brien) 1631648335
\u201cNorm @normmacdonald was a great talent, and I loved laughing with him on SNL. *Bob Dole* will miss Norm Macdonald.\u201dpic.twitter.com/gPsdyJ5tS9— Senator Bob Dole (@Senator Bob Dole) 1631649263
Battling cancer for 9 years without telling anyone is the most Norm Macdonald shit ever.— Anthony Jeselnik (@Anthony Jeselnik) 1631648022
To so many people in comedy, me included, there was nobody funnier than Norm MacDonald. You always hoped he would hang around after the work was done, just so you could hear his stories and get a laugh. So hilarious and so generous with his personality. I\u2019m gonna miss him.— Seth MacFarlane (@Seth MacFarlane) 1631647928
This is now a thread for obscure Norm MacDonald clips. I\u2019ll startpic.twitter.com/D1fCRaydld— Alex Hirsch (@Alex Hirsch) 1631650511
Sad to hear about Norm Macdonald. Got to be on his talk show. Laughed a lot with him. He was very kind to me. #RIPNormMacdonald— M. Night Shyamalan \u231b (@M. Night Shyamalan \u231b) 1631649183
Every one of us loved Norm. Some of the hardest laughs of my life with this man. Most fearless funny original guy we knew. An incredible dad. A great friend. A legend. Love u pal.pic.twitter.com/2Pftw28uPc— Adam Sandler (@Adam Sandler) 1631650542
I've lost track of how many times I've seen this. Norm Macdonald chatting with Seinfeld about Bill Cosby. RIP to a legendpic.twitter.com/3abxZpzd6I— \u200e\u200e\u200enakul. (@\u200e\u200e\u200enakul.) 1631648266
Nobody was funnier than Norm MacDonald. I don\u2019t know any comedian that didn\u2019t love him. The best of the best. He also had the single greatest late night set of all time on his last Letterman appearance. RIP Norm.pic.twitter.com/RFlP6dzIMF— Dustin Nickerson (@Dustin Nickerson) 1631649142
Norm MacDonald died today so it\u2019s only right to pay respects with his hilarious impression of Burt Reynoldspic.twitter.com/5dhSnbwwVV— Toni Upholds Bruce Lee Thought (@Toni Upholds Bruce Lee Thought) 1631648050
Photo via Getty/ Tim Mosenfelder