Norm Macdonald, an influential comedian known for anchoring the Weekend Update desk on “Saturday Night Live,” has died.
The comedian’s longtime producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra, who was with him at the time of his death Tuesday, 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. 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 son of two schoolteachers raised in Quebec City, Canada, Macdonald was a standup comic and briefly a writer for the sitcom “Roseanne” when he was picked to join the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 1993.
After leaving the show in 1998, he created and starred in the comedy “The Norm Show” for ABC, playing a former NHL player kicked out of the league for gambling and tax evasion and forced into community service as a social worker.
He became known for his esoteric impressions, including Burt Reynolds, who gave Will Ferrell’s Alex Trebek character grief on “Celebrity Jeopardy.” He also impersonated Bob Dole, Larry King and David Letterman.
Macdonald was anchor on the “Weekend Update” desk in a prime era for news-based jokes, with Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson frequent targets.
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from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/3kaHtl1
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