SATURDAY Night Live vet Norm Macdonald's cause of death is revealed as fans remember his "Turd Ferguson" character.
Turd Ferguson comes from a celebrity Jeopardy! SNL sketch where Macdonald plays Burt Reynolds whose name has been changed on the podium.
Stars have been quick to pay tribute to the comedian, including Jim Carrey who wrote "He was one of our most precious gems. An honest and courageous comedy genius. I love him." on Twitter.
The comedian's management firm confirmed his death to Deadline, and revealed the SNL star was fighting cancer for almost a decade.
Norm's longtime producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra revealed: "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.”
One of Macdonald's most beloved characters was his recurring appearance on SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy! skit, where he played Burt Reynolds.
Read of Norm Macdonald live blog for the latest news and updates…
- Jocelyn Cook
HOW DID NORM MACDONALD DIE?
Norm Macdonald died on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at the age of 61.
The comedian's management firm confirmed his death to Deadline that day and revealed Macdonald had been fighting a cancer battle for almost a decade.
The type of cancer the comedian had was not disclosed by his management.
- Jocelyn Cook
WHAT WAS NORM MACDONALD'S NET WORTH?
Comedian Norm Macdonald passed away on September 14.
Macdonald was reportedly worth $2.5million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He participated in the trivia contest Who Wants to Be a Millionaire back in 2000 and won $500,000 but donated the funds to charity.
- Jocelyn Cook
CONAN O'BRIEN 'DEVASTATED' BY MACDONALD'S DEATH
"I am absolutely devastated about Norm Macdonald," Conan O'Brien shared on Twitter on Tuesday.
"Norm had the most unique comedic voice I have ever encountered and he was so relentlessly and uncompromisingly funny."
"I will never laugh that hard again. I'm so sad for all of us today," he concluded.
- Jocelyn Cook
SETH ROGEN ON NORM MACDONALD'S DEATH
Fellow comedian Seth Rogen paid tribute to Norm Macdonald on Twitter on Tuesday.
"Oh f***. I was a huge fan of Norm Macdonald and I essentially ripped off his delivery when I first started acting," he wrote.
"I would stay up specifically to watch him on talk shows. He was the funniest guest of all time. We lost a comedy giant today. One of the the all time greats. RIP."
- Jocelyn Cook
KEN JEONG PAYS TRIBUTE
"In such a divisive time even among comedians, we can all agree Norm MacDonald was the best," Ken Jeong wrote after the comedian's death.
"Rest In Peace," he added alongside a broken heart emoji.
- Jocelyn Cook
FRANCHESCA RAMSEY'S TRIBUTE
"In 2008 I won a stand-up contest at the WPB improv & got to open for Norm Macdonald," Franchesca Ramsey shared on Twitter on Tuesday.
"I was so nervous but he was unbelievably nice, hysterical & encouraging. He joked with everyone in the green room & offered punch ups & advice."
"It was incredible," she added. "We lost a real legend today."
- Jocelyn Cook
COMEDIAN DAVE WEASEL REMEMBERS NORM MACDONALD
"'Death is a funny thing. Not funny haha, like a Woody Allen movie, but funny strange, like a Woody Allen marriage,'" comedian Dave Weasel quoted from Norm Macdonald in a remembrance tweet on Tuesday.
He also shared a photo of the late comedian.
- Jocelyn Cook
WHO IS NORM MADCONALD'S EX WIFE?
Norm Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt Macdonald in 1988.
The pair had one child, Dylan, who was born in 1993.
Connie and Macdonald divorced in 1999 and it's not clear what led to their split.
- Jocelyn Cook
JON STEWART TRIBUTE TO NORM MACDONALD
Jon Stewart took to Twitter to remember Macdonald, writing "No one could make you break like Norm Macdonald."
"Hilarious and unique. F*** cancer."
- Jocelyn Cook
SNL FAME
Norm Macdonald landed on the mainstream radar thanks to SNL when he made his debut in the iconic sketch comedy show in 1993.
During his tenure, he was most remembered for his role as the Weekend Update anchor for three seasons, most notably for his dry, quick wit.
Norm would leave the program in 1998.
- Jocelyn Cook
DID NORM MACDONALD HAVE KIDS?
Norm Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt Macdonald in 1988.
The couple shared one child together: Dylan, who was born in 1993.
The pair divorced in 1999.
- Jocelyn Cook
'MOST PROUD OF HIS COMEDY'
Norm's longtime producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra said of the late comedian: "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."
- Jocelyn Cook
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE RESPONDS TO NORM MACDONALD'S DEATH
"Today is a sad day. All of us here at SNL mourn the loss of Norm Macdonald, one of the most impactful comedic voices of his or any other generation," the Saturday Night Live Twitter account shared on Tuesday.
"There are so many things that we’ll miss about Norm – from his unflinching integrity to his generosity to his consistent ability to surprise," the account added in another tweet.
"But most of all he was just plain funny. No one was funny like Norm."
- Jocelyn Cook
NORM MACDONALD'S MOTH JOKE, PART THREE
"Doc, sometimes I feel like a spider, even though I’m a moth, just barely hanging on to my web with an everlasting fire underneath me. I’m not feeling good," the joke continues.
And so the doctor says, “Moth, man, you’re troubled. But you should be seeing a psychiatrist. Why on earth did you come here?”
To which the moth replies: “Cause the light was on.”
- Jocelyn Cook
THE MOTH JOKE, PART TWO
The moth adds: "A lady that I once loved, doc. I don’t know where to turn to. My youngest, Alexandria, she fell in the…in the cold of last year. The cold took her down, as it did many of us."
"And my other boy, and this is the hardest pill to swallow, doc. My other boy, Gregarro Ivinalititavitch… I no longer love him."
"As much as it pains me to say, when I look in his eyes, all I see is the same cowardice that I… that I catch when I take a glimpse of my own face in the mirror."
The moth continues: "If only I wasn’t such a coward, then perhaps…perhaps I could bring myself to reach over to that cocked and loaded gun that lays on the bedside behind me and ends this hellish facade once and for all."
- Jocelyn Cook
WHAT IS NORM MACDONALD'S MOTH JOKE?
One of Macdonald's comic career highlights didn't come on SNL.
Instead, it was during a 2017 interview on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
During his interview with O'Brien, Macdonald told a joke about a moth who sees a podiatrist.
“What’s the problem?” the podiatrist asks.
“What’s the problem? Where do I begin? I go to work for Gregory Illinivich, and all day long, I work. Honestly, doc, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I don’t even know if Gregory Illinivich knows."
"He only knows that he has power over me, and that seems to bring him happiness. But I don’t know, I wake up in a malaise, and I walk here and there… at night I…I sometimes wake up and I turn to some old lady in my bed that’s on my arm," the moth says.
- Jocelyn Cook
DARREN CRISS REACTS TO DEATH OF NORM MACDONALD
Actor Darren Criss reacted to the death of Norm Macdonald on Twitter.
"Norm McDonald always just marched to the beat of his own drum. That beat didn’t always groove with everyone, but for those whom it did- it was an infectious rhythm that always left you wanting more," he wrote.
"Like he was constantly in on a joke that the rest of us had to catch up to…"
"… He was just so unapologetically & uniquely himself in all his work, and I admired him immensely for that. Thanks for all the laughs, Norm, nobody did it like you."
- Jocelyn Cook
SARAH SILVERMAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO NORM MACDONALD
"Norm was in a comedy genre of his own," fellow comedian Sarah Silverman wrote on Twitter Tuesday night.
"No one like him on this planet. Please do yourself a favor and watch his stuff. He was one of a kind of all time."
- Jocelyn Cook
WHEN WAS THE NORM SHOW ON?
Following his stint on SNL, Norm would go on to star on The Norm Show.
The show aired from March 24, 1999, to April 6, 2001, and was on for three seasons.
- Jocelyn Cook
WHEN WAS NORM MACDONALD ON SNL?
The comedian was on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1998.
He is most remembered for his role as the Weekend Update anchor for three seasons on the show.
- Jocelyn Cook
WHO CONFIRMED NORM MACDONALD'S DEATH?
The comedian's management firm confirmed his death to Deadline.
They also revealed that the beloved SNL star was fighting cancer for almost a decade before he passed away.
- Jocelyn Cook
WAS NORM MACDONALD MARRIED?
Norm Macdonald married Connie Vaillancourt Macdonald in 1988.
The pair had one child, Dylan, born in 1993.
However, Connie and Macdonald divorced in April 1999.
- Julia Fields
SENATOR BOB DOLE 'WILL MISS' MACDONALD
Norm Macdonald would play presidential candidate Bob Dole on SNL and the now congressman paid tribute to the late comedian.
- Julia Fields
CONAN O'BRIEN REMEMBERS THE REGULAR GUEST
Conan O'Brien pays tribute to Macdonald, who was a regular guest on his talk show.
- Julia Fields
SETH ROGEN TRIBUTE
Fellow comedian Seth Rogen paid tribute to Macdonald on Twitter today.
He wrote, "Oh f***. I was a huge fan of Norm Macdonald and I essentially ripped off his delivery when I first started acting.
"I would stay up specifically to watch him on talk shows. He was the funniest guest of all time. We lost a comedy giant today. One of the the all time greats. RIP."
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