Comedian Norm Macdonald, a former Saturday Night Live writer and performer who was Weekend Update host when Bill Clinton and OJ Simpson provided comic fodder during the 1990s, has died.
Macdonald, who was 61, died Tuesday after having cancer for nine years, but keeping it private, according to Brillstein Entertainment Partners, his management firm in Los Angeles.
He never reached the same television heights after being fired from SNL in 1998, but was an indefatigable stand-up comic and popular talk show guest whose death provoked an outpouring from fellow comedians.“I am absolutely devastated about Norm Macdonald. Norm had the most unique comedic voice I have ever encountered and he was so relentlessly and uncompromisingly funny. I will never laugh that hard again. I’m so sad for all of us today,” Conan O’Brien wrote on Twitter.
“Every one of us loved Norm. Some of the hardest laughs of my life with this man. Most fearless funny original guy we knew. An incredible dad. A great friend. A legend. Love u pal,” Adam Sandler wrote on Instagram.
“Norm was in a comedy genre of his own. No one like him on this planet. Please do yourself a favour and watch his stuff. He was one of a kind of all time,” Sarah Silverman wrote on Twitter.
“He was one of our most precious gems. An honest and courageous comedy genius. I love him,” said Jim Carrey, via Twitter.
“The world was a much funnier place because Norm Macdonald was in it. We’ve lost a comedic genius, and a great Canadian. Sending my condolences to his loved ones and countless fans mourning his passing,” Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, wrote on Twitter.
Other tributes came in from, Seth Rogen, Patton Oswalt, Steve Martin and Jon Stewart. “Today is a sad day. All of us here at SNL mourn the loss of Norm Macdonald, one of the most impactful comedic voices of his or any other generation. There are so many things that we’ll miss about Norm — from his unflinching integrity to his generosity to his consistent ability to surprise. But most of all he was just plain funny. No one was funny like Norm,” Saturday Night Live said in an emailed statement.
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