Comedy Legends Codexery

Norm Macdonald

The deadpan Canadian who made Weekend Update unforgettable.

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Norm Macdonald

via Wikipedia: Norm Macdonald · see source

Norm Macdonald was a Canadian comedian known for his deadpan delivery and folksy turns of phrase.[1] He anchored Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update for three and a half seasons and was removed in 1998.[2] Macdonald's September 2021 death was caused by leukemia, an illness he kept private.[3]

Key facts and history

He attended Gloucester High School in Ottawa, graduating two years early at age 14, and later studied mathematics and philosophy at Carleton University before dropping out.[4] His first stand-up performances were at Yuk Yuk's in Ottawa in 1985, and after a poor first show he had to be persuaded by club owner Howard Wagman to return.[5] In 1993, Macdonald was hired as a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live.[2] In 2016, he authored the semi-fictional memoir Based on a True Story, which debuted at number 15 on the New York Times Best Sellers list for hardcover nonfiction.[6]

Macdonald was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2013 and later developed acute myeloid leukemia, keeping his condition private.[7][8] Norman Gene Macdonald entered the world on October 17, 1959, in Quebec City, Quebec; his parents, Ferne and Percy Lloyd Macdonald, were both Anglophone teachers.[9] Don Ohlmeyer, NBC's West Coast division president, had Macdonald removed from the Weekend Update anchor position in early 1998, with the stated reason being a decline in ratings and quality, though it was alleged the real cause was his relentless mockery of O.J. Simpson, which offended Ohlmeyer, a close Simpson friend.[2][10]

What the cited sources add

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Frank Stallone said Macdonald's non-sequitur jokes about him were funny because they "made no sense"[11] E! News reported that NBC president Robert Wright overturned Don Ohlmeyer's ban on advertising Macdonald's film Dirty Work on the network.[12] Ultimate Classic Rock stated that Macdonald served as a writer on The Dennis Miller Show.[13] Deadline reported that Macdonald was a writer on Roseanne in the early 1990s and served as a consulting producer on the 2018 revival.[14]

A piece discussing Macdonald's final comedy special reported that his initial cancer diagnosis occurred when he was in his twenties, and the treatment required the removal of over a quarter of his stomach.[15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as TV Guide. Books that discuss him, such as Shales (2003) ; "Norm Macdonald", TV Guide; Zinoman, "Here's Why Norm Macdonald Was Comedy Royalty. It's Not 'S.N.L.'", The New York Times, September 15, 2021; "Norm Macdonald told jokes, dammit", The A.V. Club, September 15, 2021; Sims, "Norm Macdonald's Protective View of Comedy", The Atlantic, September 13, 2018; Hughes, "These clips show why Norm Macdonald was the best worst talk show guest en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brooks, "Norm Macdonald, Still in Search of the Perfect Joke", The New York Times Magazine, August 30, 2018; Carter, "TV Notes; Ohlmeyer Vs. Macdonald", The New York Times, June 3, 1998; Sacks, "'SNL's James Downey on Working with Norm Macdonald and Getting Fired for Making Fun of OJ Simpson", Vulture, June 24, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lloyd, "Norm Macdonald was comedy's weird Everyman. Even when it made us uncomfortable", Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2021; Evans, "Norm Macdonald Dies: Influential Comedian & Former 'SNL' Weekend Update Anchor Was 61", Deadline, September 14, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Grignon, "Former Gloucester High grad turns yuks into bucks", May 1991; "SNL veteran Norm Macdonald was revered as a master of stand-up comedy", The Globe and Mail, September 17, 2021; "Standup for a steady job – TheYYSCENE", TheYYSCENE - Calgary's Going Out Guide, February 6, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Norm Macdonald obituary", The Times, October 22, 2020; The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. September 5, 1986. p. 53.; "Norm Macdonald obituary", The Times, October 22, 2020; "Norm's last laugh: 'Nothing Special' is a parting lesson for us all", June 8, 2022 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Williams, "Norm Macdonald's Often Funny, Always Fabulist 'Based on a True Story'", The New York Times, December 21, 2016; Cowles, "The Story Behind This Week's Best Sellers", The New York Times, September 30, 2016; "Humor Books – Best Sellers – October 9, 2016 – The New York Times", The New York Times (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edgers, "Norm Macdonald had one last secret", The Washington Post; Evans, "Norm Macdonald Dies: Influential Comedian And Former 'SNL' Weekend Update Anchor Was 61", Deadline Hollywood, September 14, 2021; "Comedian and actor Norm Macdonald dead at 61", CBC News, September 14, 2021; Edgers, "Norm Macdonald had one last secret", The Washington Post (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Edgers, "Norm Macdonald had one last secret", The Washington Post (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Macdonald, "Neil Macdonald on brother Norm's confessions of a cult leader", CBC News, August 30, 2016; Edgers, "Will somebody please give Norm Macdonald another TV show?", The Washington Post, August 18, 2016; Lovece, "Norm Macdonald of 'SNL' fame bringing his dry wit to Patchogue", Newsday, September 16, 2016; "Norm Macdonald", TV Guide; "Deaths", Ottawa Citizen, October 30, 1990; Edgers, "Will somebody please give Norm Macdonald another TV show?", The Washington Post, August 18, 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Norm Macdonald" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Saturday Night's Children: Norm Macdonald (1993–1998)", Splitsider, November 5, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Rob Torone (September 15, 2021). Frank Stallone quietly loved being the butt of Norm Macdonald's jokes. Philadelphia Inquirer, accessed November 30, 2023. facts only, no text reused. inquirer.com
  12. Frankel, "Norm Macdonald Wins "Dirty" War", E! News, June 9, 1998. facts only, no text reused. eonline.com
  13. Irwin, "30 Years Ago: 'The Dennis Miller Show' Begins Its Doomed TV Run", Ultimate Classic Rock, January 20, 2022. facts only, no text reused. ultimateclassicrock.com
  14. Andreeva, "'The Conners' Pays Tribute To Norm Macdonald In Live Season 4 Premiere", Deadline, September 23, 2021. facts only, no text reused. deadline.com
  15. "Norm's last laugh: 'Nothing Special' is a parting lesson for us all", June 8, 2022. facts only, no text reused. angelusnews.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Norm Macdonald (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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