Comedian Norm Macdonald Dies Aged 61

Former Saturday Night Live host Norm Macdonald has died at the age of 61 from his nine-year private battle with cancer.

His death was announced to Deadline by his management firm Brillstein Entertainment.

Norm's producing partner and friend Lori Jo Hoekstra said: "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."

Norm was noticed by Lorne Michaels, who took a shine to his stand up, and gave him a job on Saturday Night Live in 1975.

He became widely popular being the Weekend Update anchor with his trademark line 'Now the fake news'.

Fast forward to 1999, he started his own programme, The Norm Show, which came out on ABC for a three-season run.

During the same period of time, he also starred in the movie Screwed (2000), opposite Dave Chappelle.

Over the years he made numerous appearances on various late-night shows, including Late Night With David Letterman and Conan, and had a recurring role on The Middle.

He also released three stand-up comedy albums: Ridiculous (2006), Me Doing Standup (2011) and Hitler's Dog, Gossip & Trickery (2017), the latter taken from a Netflix special.

The tributes on social media have been pouring in.

RIP Norm.