Norm Macdonald: Celebrated Comedian Dies Aged 61 After Private Battle with Cancer

Norm Macdonald: Celebrated Comedian Dies Aged 61 After Private Battle with Cancer

  • Veteran Canadian comedian Norm Macdonald sadly passed away on Tuesday, September 14 2021
  • Macdonald died of cancer after battling the disease behind the scenes for almost a decade, it came as a shock to many
  • Macdonald became famous for his deadpan comedic delivery as the host of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update.

Wildly celebrated comedian, actor, writer and producer famous for 'SNL' and more, Norm Macdonald has died at the age of 61 years old.

Veteran comedian Norm Macdonald passes on at the age of 61 years old.
Celebrated comedian Norm Macdonald. Photo: Norm Macdonald.
Source: UGC

According to his team, the thespian passed away on Tuesday, September 14, after a nine-year, private battle with cancer that he kept hidden from the public for all those years.

His compatriot Jim Carrey was one of the first to pay tribute via his Twitter account.

"My dear friend Norm McDonald passed on after a brave 10-year battle, He was one of our most precious gems. An honest and courageous comedy genius. I love him," he said.

Macdonald was a standup comic and briefly a writer for the sitcom "Roseanne" before he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1993.

He left SNL after a five-year stint and went on to create and star in "The Norm Show" for ABC.

In the comedy series, he played a former NHL player kicked out of the league for gambling and tax evasion.

After a spell out of the limelight, the Canadian stand-up comedian returned to the screen in 2013 with his own video podcast entitled Norm Macdonald Live.

Five years later this was turned into a Netflix show with a similar premise.

Charles Grodin dies aged 86

In a separate article published on Briefly News, veteran Hollywood actor and comedian Charles Grodin died on Tuesday, May 18, after a long battle with cancer.

The prolific and versatile comedic who was best known for his roles in movies like Midnight Run and The Heartbreak Kid died at the age of 86 years old.

In the initial early stages of his stellar career, he dabbled in Broadway, as well as the big screen, with a role in Rosemary’s Baby giving him one of his first acting careers.

Source: Briefly News

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Denika Herbst (Editor) Denika Herbst is a Human Interest writer at Briefly News. She is also an Industrial Sociologist with a master's degree in Industrial Organisational and Labour Studies from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, which she completed in 2020. She is now a PhD candidate at UKZN. Denika has over five years of experience writing for Briefly News (joined in 2018), and a short time writing for The South African. You can reach her via: denika.herbst@briefly.co.za.

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Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.