Saturday Night Live’s Norm Macdonald Has Passed At 61 Following Cancer Battle

Published on September 15, 2021.

ph: Eddy Chen / ©Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

Saturday Night Live star Norm Macdonald has sadly passed at the age of 61.

Macdonald, who was best known for his time anchoring the Weekend Update segment on SNL, passed on Tuesday morning following a private nine-year battle with cancer. Macdonald’s longtime friend Lori Jo Hoekstra first revealed the news to Deadline and shared that Macdonald wanted to keep his battle a private matter, even from his family, friends and fans.

“He was most proud of his comedy,” Hoekstra told the outlet. “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 was born in Quebec City and began his career in the comedy space in Canada. In the early 1990s, he was hired as a writer on The Dennis Miller Show and Roseanne. During his time on Roseanne, he was first noticed by SNL producer Lorne Michaels.

Macdonald was a cast member on SNL for five years from 1993 through 1998. Three of his years on the show he was the anchor on the Weekend Update segment where he became known for his impressions of Quentin Tarantino, Burt Reynolds, Larry King, Bob Dole, and David Letterman, among others.