Norm Macdonald, former "Saturday Night Live star, stand-up comedian, and actor, has died. He was 61.
Macdonald has fought cancer privately for the past nine years. The announcement was made by his longtime producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra, who was with the comedian when he died.
She spoke about his determination to keep his health issues private, saying, "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."
Macdonald worked on "Saturday Night Live" from 1993-1998, working as the Weekend Update anchor and in skits. One of his most popular appearances on the show was as Burt Reynolds on the show's "Jeopardy" skits opposite Will Farrell as Alex Trebek. He was fired from "SNL" for what he said was a dislike of him by Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC's West Coast division, who was a friend of O.J. Simpson. Macdonald continually made jokes at the expense of the (at the time) alleged killer. After "SNL" he starred in his own show, "Norm", from 1999-2001.
The actor starred in many films, including "Dirty Work", "Billy Madison" and "Grown Ups".
