Influential Saturday Night Live cast member and comedian Norm Macdonald has died after a nine-year private battle with cancer. He was 61.  

Macdonald’s death was announced by his management firm, Brillstein Entertainment, and his producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra, who was with him at the time of his death. “He was most proud of his comedy,” Hoekstra said to Deadline. “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.”

Born in Quebec City, Quebec, Macdonald got his start as a contestant on Star Search before getting hired to write for the sitcom Roseanne in 1992. In 1993, Macdonald joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, where he would remain until 1998. He was perhaps best known for his dry delivery and the sharp observations he delivered as host of the show’s Weekend Update segment. Other fan favorite Macdonald characters included his gum-chewing, ten-gallon hat wearing impression of Burt Reynolds on Celebrity Jeopardy opposite Will Ferrell's flustered Alex Trebek; Clint Eastwood; David Letterman; and Larry King, among others. 

Macdonald left SNL in part because he would not go easy on OJ Simpson at the Weekend Update desk, despite reportedly receiving pressure from NBC execs—specifically Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC’s West Coast division and personal friend of Simpson's—to lay off of him.

After SNL, Macdonald starred in his own comedy series, The Norm Show, from 1999 to 2001 and would appear on multiple late night talk shows, like Late Night With David Letterman and Conan, regaling hosts with his droll humor. 

Macdonald would go on to work extensively in both television and film, appearing on sitcoms including My Name Is Earl, Real Rob, NewsRadio, The Drew Carey Show and The Larry Sanders Show, and also films like The People vs. Larry Flynt, Dirty Work, Grown Ups, Funny People, and Billy Madison, often opposite his SNL comrades like Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. Macdonald also released multiple comedy albums; a 2017 Netflix standup special called Hitler's Dog, Gossip, and Trickery; and lent his distinctive deadpan cadence to voice overwork such as Dr. Dolittle and The Fairly OddParents. Most recently, Macdonald had a recurring role on The Middle. 

Macdonald was scheduled to perform in the New York Comedy Festival lineup in November. He is survived by his son Dylan. 

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