Highlights
- Norm Macdonald died of complications from acute leukemia on September 14, 2021.
- Norm Macdonald was a Canadian comedian.
- Norm’s last recorded show was Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special.
Norm Macdonald was a stand-up comedian from Quebec. Over the years, he hosted SNL (Saturday Day Night Live) and also wrote for them. His journey that started in 1993 ended in 1998. He was fired from the SNL show, and from 1999-2001, he hosted his sitcom The Norm Show.
Norm Macdonald was born in a teacher family. His father, Percy Lloyd Macdonald, and his mother, Ferne, worked at the military base CFB Valcartier. Macdonald went to Quebec High School and Gloucester High School. After High School graduation Macdonald studied mathematics at Carleton University, Ottawa. However, he dropped out to pursue Journalism from Algonquin College’s programs for journalism and broadcasting-television.
Mcdonald’s Career
1985: Macdonald’s journey as a Stand-up comedian begins by performing in comedy clubs and famously at the Yuk Yuk’s.
1986: Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, Montreal.
1990’s: He appeared as a contestant on Star Search.
1992-93: He worked as a writer for the television sitcom Roseanne.
September 2010: Macdonald planned a series for Comedy Central, describing it as a sports version of The Daily Show.
April 12, 2011:A Nine episode game-based show, Sports Show with Norm Macdonald, premiered.
March 26, 2011: Macdonald’s first stand-up special, Me Doing Stand-Up, aired on Comedy Central.
February 26, 2011: He played a commentator and co-hosted alongside Kara Scott the seventh season of the TV series High Stakes Poker on Game Show Network.
Controversy: When Macdonald said Trans people are meant to Die…
On SNL, Macdonald’s did a Weekend Update segment. In one of the infamous and controversial statements regarding John Lotter, Macdonald stated that,
“And finally, in Falls City, Nebraska, John Lotter has been sentenced to death for attempting to kill three people in what prosecutors called a plot to silence a cross-dressing female who had accused him of rape. Now, this might strike some viewers as harsh, but I believe everyone involved in this story should die.”
All the queer communities and organizations, including, The Transexual Menace, highly criticized the statement and demanded an apology from SNL. Following the year in 1998, Macdonald was fired from SNL for the reasons of dull concepts and low ratings.
2018: Controversy
In September 2018, he appeared in an interview to criticize aspects of the #MeToo movement. Furthermore, he defends his friends and fellow comedians Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr. Following this event, his appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon got canceled.
Norm Macdonald On Netflix
In March 2018, Netflix announced a ten-episode talk show entitled Norm Macdonald Has a Show, hosted by Macdonald. In the following month, September, the series premiered.
Norm Pre-recorded and taped another Nextflix special, Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special, during the pandemic hour in June 2020. Moreover, the show was supposed to be filmed among a live Audience but taped in the apartment of his producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra.
“… received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations including
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded), Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special.”
Is norm MacDonald alive?
Norm has been battling cancer disease quietly. Macdonald was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013. Further, In early 2020, cancer symptoms returned and formed into myelodysplastic syndrome. After that, while pursuing treatment at a hospital named the City of Hope, he died of complications from acute leukemia on September 14, 2021.