Born:
October 17, 1963
Norm Macdonald Overview:
Norm Macdonald will always be remembered for two things: hosting "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live and being fired from "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live. Famous for his deadpan voice and brilliant use of irony, Macdonald is a slightly polarizing comic: his fans really, really love him, and his detractors just don't get him.
Quick Norm Macdonald Facts:
- Norm Macdonald was born and raised in Quebec City, Canada.
- He got his start doing stand-up comedy during the 1987 Just for Laughs Montreal Festival.
- Macdonald joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1993, where we worked as a writer, cast member and anchor of "Weekend Update" for five years.
- In 1998, Macdonald was very publicly fired from his position on SNL.
- He released his first stand-up album, Ridiculous, in 2006.
- His first stand-up special and second album, Me Doing Stand Up, were released in 2011.
- In 2011, he became host of Sports Show on Comedy Central. It was canceled after one season.
Norm Macdonald at 'Saturday Night Live':
Macdonald joined the staff of Saturday Night Live in 1993 as both a writer and cast member, but it wasn't until 1995 (when Kevin Nealon left the show) that Macdonald really broke out as the anchor of "Weekend Update." Though he didn't appear in sketches that often, he also became known for his impressions of Larry King, David Letterman, Bob Dole and, most famously, Burt Reynolds. In 1997, Macdonald was publicly fired from his "Update" position after NBC exec Don Ohlmeyer deemed him "not funny" (though the common wisdom is that Ohlmeyer fired him for doing OJ jokes, as the two were friends). Macdonald left SNL in '98.
Additional Norm Macdonald Facts:
- After leaving SNL, Macdonald co-wrote and starred in the movie Dirty Work in 1998. It co-starred Artie Lange, Chris Farley and Don Rickles and was directed by comedian Bob Saget, but failed to make any kind of impact at the box office. Macdonald starred in one more feature film, Screwed, in 2000, which bombed as well.
- He headlined his own ABC sitcom, The Norm Show, beginning in 1999. The show (on which Artie Lange again co-starred) lasted for three seasons.
- Macdonald's follow-up to The Norm Show, the FOX sitcom A Minute with Stan Hooper, lasted only six episodes after debuting in 2003.
- He shot a sketch comedy pilot for Comedy Central in 2005 called Back to Norm, but it never made it to series.
- An avid poker player, Macdonald became the host of Game Show Network's High Stakes Poker in 2011.
