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The Tragic Death Of Norm Macdonald
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7 weeks ago
The Tragic Death Of Norm Macdonald
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00:00
Norm MacDonald, the famed comedian who made a name for himself in the early 90s on Saturday
00:05
Night Live, has died from cancer.
00:08
He was 61 years old.
00:09
His death was announced to Deadline by Brillstein Entertainment, his management firm.
00:14
The publication reported that the comedian's longtime producing partner and friend, Laurie
00:18
Jo Hoekstra, was with him when he died.
00:21
MacDonald had been dealing with the diagnosis for nearly a decade in private, away from
00:25
family, friends, and fans.
00:28
Laura also mentioned MacDonald's determination to focus on his comedy despite his diagnosis,
00:34
saying,
00:35
He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones
00:38
saw him.
00:39
Norm was a pure comic.
00:41
He once wrote that,
00:42
A joke should catch someone by surprise.
00:45
It should never pander.
00:46
He certainly never pandered.
00:48
Norm will be missed terribly.
00:50
MacDonald kept working up until his death, having a movie back home again in post-production,
00:55
per his IMDb.
00:56
He was also scheduled to appear at the New York Comedy Festival in November.
01:00
The comedian had recently lent his voice to numerous projects as well, including Seth
01:05
McFarland's The Orville as Yafit and the Adult Swim series Mike Tyson Mysteries as Pigeon.
01:11
It seemed he kept his word, focusing on his craft throughout his illness.
01:14
Norm was Canadian, born in Quebec.
01:17
MacDonald made his way to Hollywood, becoming a writer for The Dennis Miller Show and Roseanne.
01:22
His work on the latter show attracted the attention of Lorne Michaels, who brought him onto Saturday
01:26
Night Live.
01:27
While he participated in numerous sketches, he received the most acclaim for his work as
01:32
the anchor of Weekend Update for three seasons.
01:35
He was notable for his deadpan style and his constant barrage of OJ jokes.
01:40
It was his refusal to go easy on OJ Simpson during the former football player's trial, despite
01:45
pressure from NBC that caused him to be fired from the show.
01:49
According to Deadline, Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC's West Coast Division, was supposedly
01:54
a friend of Simpson's.
01:55
Ohlmeyer tells a different story and says it's based off of ratings that showed people were
01:59
turning out during Norm's Weekend Update skits.
02:02
My only reason for doing it was to try — I thought you needed to do it to protect the
02:08
show."
02:09
Though MacDonald did leave the show in disagreeable circumstances, he continued to work in the
02:13
comedy industry, and one could argue that the move made him more popular than ever.
02:18
Norm told The Comedy Couch, a Vancouver-based comedy guide, that he always enjoyed stand-up
02:23
and had rededicated himself to it in the mid-2000s.
02:26
When it was pointed out that MacDonald wasn't around on TV as much, the comedian agreed, saying
02:31
that stand-up was what he was best at and what he liked the most.
02:35
He also noted his skills as a writer, detailing that he became so good at it because he was
02:40
constantly writing his stand-up routines.
02:42
He then compared himself to Robin Williams, telling the interviewer that he couldn't riff
02:46
like the late actor.
02:47
Instead, he had to write out his jokes in advance.
02:51
But MacDonald may be a bit coy there, as Conan O'Brien reposted one of his most famous late-night
02:56
show appearances, when he completely derailed Carrot Top's launch into movies with one completely
03:01
accurate line.
03:02
If it's got Carrot Top in it, you know what a good name for it'd be?
03:05
What's that, Norm?
03:06
Box office poison!
03:10
Of course, comedy and writing weren't MacDonald's only interests.
03:14
Norm was also known for his affinity for playing poker.
03:17
He told USA Today's For the Win in 2019 about his game strategy,
03:22
People worked to get a table image for years.
03:25
That's very important in poker.
03:26
I have a table image instantly because I'm a celebrity.
03:30
Celebrities are seen as awful at things or generally dumb.
03:33
So if you play a celebrity, you know he's not going to be a good poker player.
03:37
You have that image so you can play into it.
03:39
Before his death, he had participated in numerous tournaments, with lifetime winnings of over
03:43
$44,000 in 2018, per Poker News.
03:47
But it wasn't all good, as he shared on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, he struggled with
03:53
a gambling addiction.
03:55
He told Vulture about his habits, saying,
03:57
"'When I get sad, it's when I see how little time I have left and how I'm wasting it.
04:02
Gambling was always like that.
04:03
It wasn't the money I lost.
04:05
It was the time.'"
04:06
Craft and interests aside, MacDonald was also a dad to his son Dylan.
04:10
Norm will always be recalled as one of the funniest people ever.
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