We have seen actors, players, and musicians gaining all the glories of the world. But, the real pleasure in seeing a comedian reach those heights. After all, the person who has the charisma to leave the whole world in tears of laughter should definitely get a little of fame. Here we are talking about Norm Macdonald, who is a renowned stand-up comedian from Canada.
Early Life
The real name of Norm Macdonald is Normal Gene Macdonald, and he hails from Quebec City Canada. Born into a family of teachers, Norm was always an enthusiast. His dad served in the Canadian army during the world wars, but later in his life, he was drawn towards teaching jobs. Growing up with two siblings Neil and Leslie MacDonald, Norm spent his childhood in Ottawa. Macdonald completed schooling from Quebec High School and Gloucester High School in Ontario, Canada.
Wife and Kids
He got married to Connie Villiancourt, a therapist by profession. But the marriage couldn’t work out, and they got divorced in 1996. Both have a son named Dylan together. Just after the divorce, Norm started dating Elle Macpherson. Their relationship lasted for approximately one year as they parted ways in 1998. Since then, there has not been any firm claim about any other link-ups.
Career
Norm Macdonald started his career with small gigs in Ottawa clubs. His first main appearance was in the year 1987 when he participated in the “Just for Laughs Comedy Festivals” in Montreal. His career-changing breakthrough was via the Saturday Night Live TV show. In the show, his key performances included the satires about David Letterman, Burt Reynolds, Larry King, Quentin Tarantino, Charles Kuralt, and Bob Dole.
A year after the 20th season of the program, he was asked to anchor the “weekend update” of SNL. During this gig of his, he was always heard making jokes about prison rape and whores. There were times when he also picked on famous political figures like Hillary Clinton. He was also interested in the lives of Marion Barry, Michael Jackson, and O.J. Simpson, who he joked continuously about. The football star was then going through a trial over his ex-wife’s murder.
His blunt language and cruel jokes about public figures led to a noticeable drop in the show’s rating. Fans were demanding a better quality of content, and this led to the removal of the anchor from the Weekend Update. Soon after leaving SNL, Macdonald co-wrote and appeared in the Revenge Comedy – Dirty Work. In the same year 1998, he gave voice to the character of Lucky the dog in Dr. Dolittle. He was also a part of its sequels, Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) and Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006).
In 2000, Norm also made an appearance on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. There he won $500,000 for Paul Newman’s charity camp. You must know that Norm was the voice behind the character of Death in the family guy. In 2003, he was seen in the title character of A Minute. The show went for six episodes.
Later, he worked with Comedy Central and started his feature, Back to Norm. In the same year 2005, he voiced the character of genie in the cartoon the Fairly Odd Parents. In 2006, he was heard in a series of commercials for Bell Mobility, which is a Canadian telecom company. During the same period, his album named Ridiculous was released starring Jon Lovitz, Molly Shannon, Artie Lange, will Ferrell, and Tim Meadows. Norm became an active part of comedy central and even participated in the Roast of Bob Saget.
In the year 2007, he participated in the 2007 World Series of Poker and won $14,608. There were a total of 827 entries, and Macdonald obtained 20th place in it. His first stand-up special aired in 2011 in collaboration with Comedy Central under the name Me Doing Stand-up. Later in 2012, he became the spokesperson for Safe Auto Insurance Company.
In the year 2013 came the podcast Norm Macdonald Live, which continued for three seasons. Adam Eget co-hosted the show was a total success. MacDonald was also the judge for the 9th season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
In the year 2016, his book, “Based on a True Story a Memoir” was released, and it was among the best-selling book of the year. 2018 saw his new show called Norm, which can be seen as Norm McDonald’s best work.
Net worth
Norm McDonald has several sources of income, as he is a successful stand-up comedian, producer, writer, and director. Most of his fortune came from hosting different TV shows. Plus, his book, which was 6th on the count of best-selling books, earned him quite some income. Right now, his worth is approximately 2 million dollars.
| Nаmе | Norman Gene McDonald |
| Age | 60 years |
| Nick Name | Norm McDonald |
| Birth Date | 1959-10-17 |
| Gender | Male |
| Profession | Comedian |
| Place of Birth | Quebec city |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Spouse | Connie Macdonald (ex.) |
| Children | Dylan Macdonald |
| Education | Quebec High School and Gloucester High School |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Career Start | 1987 |
| Father | Percy Macdonald |
| Mother | Ferne Macdonald |
| Siblings | Leslie Macdonald and Neil Macdonald |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Debut Movie | Billy Madison |
Comedy central named norm among the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. Here we have listed some famous quotes by Norm Macdonald.
- “Comedy is surprises, so if you’re intending to make somebody laugh and they don’t laugh, that’s funny.”
- “He has the disease of alcoholism. And he came to me… and he told me, and I’m the kind of guy that likes to look at the bright side of things. So I told him, I said, ‘Richie, it’s true that you have a disease and everything, but I think you got the best one.”
Given the quality of content Norm Macdonald has been offering the comedy industry, he definitely deserve what he is being paid. And, we are hoping to see more of his work.
