Norm Macdonald, a seasoned comedian, actor, writer, and producer who was most known for his work on “Saturday Night Live,” among other things, has died.
He passed suddenly on Tuesday, according to his team, following a nine-year struggle with cancer that he kept hidden from the public eye. Macdonald had been fighting the disease in secret for nine years.
His longtime producing partner, Lori Jo Hoekstra, said, “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. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”
The news comes as a shock to those who believed Macdonald was a star in the world of comedy. He is arguably best known for his role as one of the original ‘Weekend Update’ co-hosts on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ as well as his roles in a variety of other television shows and films throughout the years.
“SNL” was his home from 1993 to 1998, which many believe to be the best years of the sketch comedy series’s run of success. Norm’s career began with ‘Saturday Night Live,’ as it did for many other comedians, and from there it took off like a rocket.
In the following years, Norm appeared in (and made a lot of memorable cameo appearances in) films such as “Billy Madison,” “Dr. Doolittle,” “Screwed,” “Deuce Bigalow,” “Man on the Moon,” and several other Sandler films. He also had his own sitcom, “Norm” as well as his own chat show, which he hosted at various times. Speaking of late-night television, Norm was a frequent guest on shows hosted by David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Larry King, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, and a slew of other legendary personalities.
His television resume is equally impressive — he has appeared in (and written for) shows such as ‘Roseanne,’ ‘My Name is Earl,’ ‘The Drew Carey Show,’ ‘Family Guy,’ ‘The Fairly Odd Parents,’ ‘The Orville,’ ‘The Middle,’ ‘Sunnyside,’ ‘A Minute with Stan Hooper,’ and a slew of others. He has also appeared in films
Norm was notorious for his edgy comedy — which, in recent years, had come into conflict with contemporary views… such as the PC/cancel culture. As a matter of fact, the last time we saw him — only a few years ago — he was telling us that he couldn’t really be humorous any longer because of political correctness in the workplace.
Even after a year, the guy was still performing on stages — he was doing comedy at the Improv, where he was talking about the coronavirus — and despite the fact that he was fighting cancer at the time, he still looked smart and maintained the same clever sense of humor that he’d always had.
RIP Macdonald.
