You’ve probably heard the news by now, but if not, it is with a heavy heart that we report that famed comedian Norm Macdonald died yesterday, September 14th, 2021, at the age of 61. Younger fans may not remember Macdonald, but since the ’90s the comedian has played a part both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes of well-known shows like Roseanne. He’s perhaps best-known for his time on Saturday Night Live and in the iconic role of Death on Family Guy. Over the course of his career, Macdonald made a decent amount of money that will hopefully be enough to help his family in the years to come. But how much is that, exactly?
Born October 17th, 1959, Macdonald started his career as a writer for the Roseanne show in 1990 and left in 1993 to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show with his unique impressions of celebrities like Larry King and Quentin Tarantino before gaining immense popularity as The Weekend Update anchor⏤the same segment that SNL comedians Colin Jost and Michael Che currently anchor. According to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Macdonald anchored the segment for four years before being removed due to low ratings. However, it was believed that the real reason was due to disparaging jokes he made about O.J. Simpson during the infamous O.J. Simpson trial.
After his time on SNL, Macdonald moved on to other projects. He wrote and starred in the comedy Dirty Work and landed a deal with ABC to produce The Norm Show, which ran for three seasons. He was later cast as the voice of Lucky the Dog in Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle trilogy, which became a turning point in his career. He continued to write for television, but his previous work on Dr. Dolittle led him to do more voiceover work for popular characters, including Death on Seth Macfarlane’s Family Guy, Pigeon on Adult Swim’s Mike Tyson Mysteries, and even a genie⏤coincidentally named Norm⏤on the Nickelodeon cartoon The Fairly OddParents.
Outside of that, Macdonald continued to appear on shows like The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show With David Letterman before transitioning to advertising. He became a spokesman for Safe Auto Insurance and later appeared in 2015 as the famous Colonel Sanders for a string of KFC commercials featuring other famous comedians like Jim Gaffigan. Like most people in the digital age of radio, Macdonald even had a podcast, Norm Macdonald Live, that ran from 2013 to 2016.
However, unbeknownst to many, Macdonald became diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and privately battled the disease for the next nine years while working in entertainment. Unfortunately, after a long battle with his condition, Macdonald has passed away, leaving his legacy and all he’s accrued to his family.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Norm MacDonald was worth $2.5 million.
It may not be much, but it should help with any expenses needed to get Macdonald’s affairs in order. Our hearts and prayers go out to his friends and family. Regardless of the trials and tribulations he endured during his colorful life, it is indeed a sad day in the world of comedy.
