Norman Gene Macdonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021)
Early in his career, he wrote for the sitcom Roseanne and made guest appearances on shows such as The Drew Carey Show and NewsRadio. Macdonald joined the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) television program in 1993, where he performed impressions of Larry King, Burt Reynolds, David Letterman, Quentin Tarantino, Charles Kuralt, and Bob Dole, among others.
The following year during the show's twentieth season, Macdonald anchored the segment "Weekend Update". Macdonald was famously removed from the "Weekend Update" desk at "SNL" in 1998 by then-NBC chief Don Ohlmeyer, and the comedian publicly said he believed it was because Ohlmeyer didn't like Macdonald's jokes about O.J. Simpson, who was a friend of Ohlmeyer's. Macdonald later left "SNL" altogether. Soon after leaving Saturday Night Live, Macdonald co-wrote and starred in the "revenge comedy" Dirty Work (1998), directed by Bob Saget, co-starring Artie Lange, and featuring Chris Farley in his last movie; the film was dedicated to his memory. Later that year, Macdonald voiced the character of Lucky the Dog in the Eddie Murphy adaptation of Dr. Dolittle. He reprised the role in both Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) and Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006).
Macdonald became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien during its 2009 and 2010 run. He has made frequent appearances on the Internet talk show Tom Green's House Tonight, and on May 20, 2010, was guest host. One of his last projects was Netflix's "Norm Macdonald Has a Show," a pared-down talk show that debuted in 2018 in which the comedian interviewed celebrity guests including Jane Fonda, Drew Barrymore and Letterman for wide-ranging, half-hour conversations. In 1988, Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt, with whom he has a son, Dylan, born 1993. The couple separated in 1999. Macdonald died on September 14, 2021, nine years after being diagnosed with cancer. His cancer had not been announced prior to his death Macdonald was 61 years old.
