Canadian comic Norm Macdonald dies at 61 after a private battle with cancer
CTV
Norm Macdonald, the deadpan Quebec comedian who rose from Canadian nightclubs to the heights of 'Saturday Night Live' fame has died at 61 after a private battle with cancer. The revelation came as a shock to many as Macdonald hadn't shared his diagnosis with his fans.
Neil Macdonald said the sardonic standup lived by the maxim that comedy should always surprise and never pander, preferring that a joke be met with boos than to stoop for the cheap laugh. Macdonald was devoted to the craft of comedy, he said, and never aspired to make the transition from the stage to the big screen.
"If you speak to his friends like Adam Sandler, David Spade or Tim Meadows -- the people he came up with at 'SNL' -- they would all agree that Norm was the purest amongst them," Neil said by phone from Los Angeles. "He was the comic's comic."
Macdonald died in Los Angeles from leukemia Tuesday, Neil said. While his diagnosis was never made public, Macdonald had been dealing with cancer for "a long time," and his condition took a turn for the worst last month, he said.
The Quebec City-raised standup was best known for his tenure on "Saturday Night Live" from 1993 to 1998 where he manned the "Weekend Update" desk and became known for impressions including a mischievous Burt Reynolds as a contestant on "Jeopardy!"
