Friday, May 22, 2026

RIP Norm Macdonald, 61, Star of “Saturday Night Live,” Beloved Comedian Stood Up for His Causes

Share

Norm Macdonald, the great “SNL” funnyman and beloved comedian, died Tuesday at age 61. He’d suffered from cancer of 9 years, but the public never knew it.

He was famously controversial at “SNL” in the 90s for standing up for what he thought was right. When Don Ohlmeyer, a sports guy who should never have been in charge of anything but sports at NBC, went after Norm over OJ Simpson jokes, Macdonald did not back off. He won the respect of his peers and of the audience.

There are hundreds of tributes to Norm all over the internet. Condolences to his family, friends, and legions of fans.

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News