Norm Macdonald's 'SNL' Co-Stars and Friends Grieve Passing of Comedian

By Allison Schonter

Hollywood is mourning the loss of famed Saturday Night Live alum Norm Macdonald. After news broke Tuesday that Macdonald died at the age of 61 following a years-long private battle with cancer, many current and past SNL stars, as well as other actors and figures in Hollywood, took to social media to pay tribute to the comedian.

MacDonald's passing was confirmed to Deadline in a statement from his management firm Brillstein Entertainment which broke the devastating news that the veteran comedian passed away that day. According to the statement, MacDonald "never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him." He was remembered as "a pure comic" who "once wrote that 'a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.' He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly."

Although MacDonald had numerous credits to his name, including a stint as a writer on Roseanne as well as headlining ABC's The Norm Show with Bruce Helford from 1999 until 2001, he is perhaps best remembered for his stint on SNL. The comic first joined the show back in 1993 and remained on it for five years until 1998. During his time as an SNL cast member, MacDonald had a memorable run as the anchor for Weekend Update and also notably had a recurring bit as Burt Reynolds during the famous "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches. With his impact on comedy and Hollywood as a whole, MacDonald's passing served a devastating blow to many, and as fans took to social media to pay their respects, many of MacDonald's former SNL castmates and friends joined in with tributes of their own.

'One of the most impactful comedic voices'

"Today is a sad day. All of us here at SNL mourn the loss of Norm Macdonald, one of the most impactful comedic voices of his or any other generation," SNL shared in a statement on social media. "There are so many things that we'll miss about Norm - from his unflinching integrity to his generosity to his consistent ability to surprise. But most of all he was just plain funny. No one was funny like Norm."

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'Nobody funnier'

"To so many people in comedy, me included, there was nobody funnier than Norm Macdonald," Seth MacFarlane, who created and starred in The Orville with MacDonald, tweeted. "You always hoped he would hang around after the work was done, just so you could hear his stories and get a laugh. So hilarious and so generous with his personality. I'm gonna miss him."

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'Fearlessly funny'

"Norm was in a comedy genre of his own. No one like him on this planet," Sarah Silverman wrote in her tribute. "Please do yourself a favor and watch his stuff. He was one of a kind of all time."

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'We lost a comedy giant'

"Norm, may you Rest In Peace," wrote Molly Shannon, who joined SNL in 1995. "Your comedy and the way you cared so much about words and sentences and storytelling was like no one else. Just brilliant. Your writing was like poetry. You preferred long dead authors like Mark Twain. Your favorite book was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You were always reading!! You poured that love you had of those great authors in your own work. You were one of a kind. And a lot of people don't know this but Norm was a math genius. Great father and friend. Old time elegance.....love ya baby."

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'Shocked and saddened'

"I was absolutely shocked and saddened to hear of Norm MacDonald's passing this morning," added MacDonald's former co-star Kevin Nealon. "He was, without a doubt, one of a kind. So clever, daring, well-read, and smart as a whip. His comedy was brilliant and at times biting. We all loved him on SNL's Weekend Update and I don't actually think he ever got credit for coining the phrase, 'Fake News.' Norm and I often toured doing stand-up and occasionally golfed together. A few years ago we took a road trip to Palm Springs and he insisted on blasting Johnny Cash tunes the entire way, windows down with his barefoot dangling out. Luckily I was driving. Thank you for your unique brilliance and charm, Norm. I miss you already."

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'One of the most precious gems'

"I am absolutely devastated about Norm Macdonald," Conan O'Brien tweeted. "Norm had the most unique comedic voice I have ever encountered and he was so relentlessly and uncompromisingly funny. I will never laugh that hard again. I'm so sad for all of us today."

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'Norm was the best'

"In every important way, in the world of stand-up, Norm was the best. An opinion shared by me and all peers. Always up to something, never certain, until his matter-of-fact delivery leveled you," wrote David Letterman. "I was always delighted by his bizarre mind and earnest gaze. (I'm trying to avoid using the phrase, "twinkle in his eyes"). He was a lifetime Cy Young winner in comedy. Gone, but impossible to forget."

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