NORM MACDONALD, one of the greatest comedians of our time, passed away yesterday after nearly a decade-long battle with cancer. He was 61.
No, you didn't miss anything. Norm had been battling cancer for nine years, but he told almost nobody, including family and friends.
His longtime producing partner said, quote, "Norm 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."
Norm got his break in Hollywood writing for "Roseanne" and "The Dennis Miller Show" in 1992.
He joined "Saturday Night Live" a year later, and hosted its "Weekend Update" segment for three seasons.
Although he was with the show through 1998, he lost the "Update" gig in 1997 . . . supposedly because he made jokes about O.J. Simpson, who was a good friend of an NBC executive named Don Ohlmeyer.
Norm had his own sitcom, called "Norm", which debuted on ABC in 1999 and ran for three seasons.
He also appeared in several films, including "Dirty Work", "Funny People", "The People vs. Larry Flynt", "Man on the Moon", and "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo". He voiced Lucky the Dog in 1998's "Dr. Dolittle" and its sequels.
He also played Colonel Sanders in a few KFC ads and had a Netflix talk show in 2018 called "Norm Macdonald Has a Show". He was planning to shoot a Netflix special at the time of his death.
(Remember Norm Macdonald through two of his best moments: The epic "moth joke" he told to Conan O'Brien in 2017 . . .
Read More HERE
and his hilariously subversive and UNCENSORED set at the Bob Saget roast. This video
Here's a list of Norm's most memorable moments.
Read more HERE
Here's a montage of Norm Macdonald playing Burt Reynolds in "Jeopardy" skits on "SNL".
Read More HERE
Norm Macdonald is responsible for one of the funniest late-night talk show moments ever.
It happened in "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". Norm was still on the guest couch when Courtney Thorne-Smith came on to promote her new movie that starred prop-comic Carrot Top. Norm was ON.
Read More HERE
Better Than Ezra Posted This Yesterday
RIP to one of the All-Time GREATS!
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images