Norm Macdonald, the acerbic, sometimes controversial comedian familiar to millions as the ¡°Weekend Update¡± anchor on ¡°Saturday Night Live¡± from 1994 to 1998, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 61.
His manager, Marc Gurvitz, confirmed the death. Lori Jo Hoekstra, his longtime producing partner, told entertainment-news outlet Deadline that the cause was cancer, something he had been dealing with for some time but had kept largely private.
Macdonald had a deadpan style honed on the stand-up circuit, first in his native Canada and then in the United States. By 1990 he was doing his routine on ¡°Late Night With David Letterman¡± and other shows. Then, in 1993, came his big break: an interview with Lorne Michaels, a fellow Canadian, for a job on ¡°Saturday Night Live.¡±
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