The Saturday Night Live star Norm MacDonald has died at age 61. He died after a private nine-year battle with cancer.
His death was confimed by his manager Marc Gurvitz, of Brillstein Entertainment. His friend Lori Jo Hoekstra was with him when he died. In a statement, Hoekstra said: “He 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.”
An outpouring resulted on social media. Seth Rogen dubbed him “one of the all time greats,” while Steve Martin called him “one of a kind.”
