Early life
Information about Norm's past is difficult to ascertain, since he is notorious for fabricating information about himself.Norm's father was a math teacher. Norm has claimed that he was a student in his father's class, and that he had to call him "Mr. MacDonald" while in class. The preceding is true - His father (Percy) was his home room teacher for 2 years (Grade 6 & Grade 7) at Alexander Wolff School in the early 70's and his mother (Fern) was also a teacher in the same school on CFB Valcartier outside Quebec City. After completing Grade 7 at AWS he continued his education at Quebec High School in Quebec City.
There are a number of conflicting stories about Norm's educational background:
:*Norm dropped out of high school at the age of 15.
:*Norm attended Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, majoring in broadcasting, but dropped out to pursue a career in show business.
:*Norm has also claimed to have attended Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario to study math, and to have played Junior AAA hockey in Ottawa.
Saturday Night Live
<!-- Unsourced image removed: -->MacDonald joined the cast of NBC's popular ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') program in 1993, where he occasionally did impressions of Larry King, Burt Reynolds, David Letterman, Charles Kuralt, Bob Dole, and others.
However, his most notable position on ''SNL'' was his three-year stint as anchor of ''Weekend Update''. Chevy Chase, the first anchor of ''WU'', has opined that MacDonald is the only anchor since Chevy's tenure to have "done it right." McDonald used a deadpan style during the segment, which included running gags such as repeated references to the Germans and their love of ''Baywatch'' star David Hasselhoff, regular jokes about prison rape, 'crack whores' and some comedic attacks on public figures such as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. Throughout the Simpson trial, MacDonald constantly pilloried the former football star, suggesting that Simpson was guilty of the brutal slaying of his wife Nicole. In the broadcast following Simpson's not guilty verdict, MacDonald opened ''Weekend Update'' by saying: "Well, it's official: Murder is legal in the state of California."
In another item circa 1995, MacDonald attacked Michael Jackson after his divorce from Lisa-Marie Presley. He announced that the two had divorced citing irreconcilable differences: "She's more of a stay-at-home type, and he's more of a homosexual pedophile." He followed this up a few episodes later with a report about the singer's recent collapse and hospitalization. Referring to a report of how Jackson had decorated his hospital room with giant photographs of Shirley Temple, Norm stated that viewers should not get the wrong idea: "We'd like to remind you that Michael Jackson is, in fact, a ''homosexual'' pedophile." The joke elicited audible gasps from some audience members.
On the February 24, 1996, show, MacDonald commented on the sentencing of John Lotter, who was convicted of brutally slaying transgender male Brandon Teena: "In Nebraska, a man was sentenced for killing a female crossdresser [sic] who had accused him of rape and two of her friends. Excuse me if this sounds harsh, but in my mind, they all deserved to die." http://www.qrd.org/qrd/trans/1996/snl.slur.response-02.28.96
Another uncomfortable moment occurred during the April 12, 1997, show (host Rob Lowe, musical guest Spice Girls), where, during a ''Weekend Update'' story about Tabitha Soren, he accidentally coughed in the middle of a sentence and, live on the air, muttered, "What the fuck was that?" The audience applauded, and MacDonald laughed the error away (saying at one point "My farewell performance" and, in closing, "Maybe I'll see you next week"). NBC received a mere three complaints about the gaffe, and MacDonald was not punished. In fact, he stumbled on a story the following week and, catching himself, said, very tongue-in-cheek, "Oh, drat!"
One joke never made it to air. Norm showed the famous photo of naked Vietnamese children running from a South Vietnamese napalm attack, and said, "In other news, Woody Allen is dating again!" Norm described the audience as projecting a "pure, crazy hate" directed at him.
A Rolling Stone magazine article about SNL during that time period seemed to suggest that Norm had difficulties getting along with some of the other cast members, whom he taunted frequently -- he was described by more than one of them, in the article, as "an asshole."
MacDonald's time with ''SNL'' ended at the end of 1997 when he was fired from the ''Weekend Update'' segment upon the insistence of NBC West Coast Executive Don Ohlmeyer, who pressured the producers to remove him, stating that MacDonald was "not funny." Some believe that Don Ohlmeyer's friendship with O.J. Simpson — a celebrity whom Norm often antagonized on the show — may have fueled Ohlmeyer's decision. Ohlmeyer denied the rumor, arguing that other NBC late-night comedians (''e.g.'', Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, and other ''SNL'' players) also constantly lampooned O.J. with little to no sanction and that his decision was based solely on audience reaction through tapes he had personally reviewed. Despite the incident, MacDonald left the show the following year under decent terms with Ohlmeyer, who originally pushed for producer Lorne Michaels to give MacDonald a shot at the ''Weekend Update'' desk in 1994. His last appearance on the program as a cast member was on February 28, 1998, portraying a host of fictitious TV show entitled ''Who's More Grizzled?'', asking questions to mountain men characters played by that episode's host Garth Brooks and special guest Robert Duvall. In the sketch, Brooks' character remarked to MacDonald's character at one point, "I don't much care for you," to which MacDonald replied, "Not a lot of people do."
After MacDonald left the show, his successor, Colin Quinn, gave a short monologue before his first starring role in a ''Weekend Update'' segment implying that Norm had shown him "the ropes" to being a ''Weekend Update'' anchor. Quinn asked the audience if they had ever gone to their favorite bar looking for their favorite bartender and found out the bartender had been replaced (by a less qualified man named "Steve"). After a brief pause, Quinn looked flatly at the audience and proclaimed, "Well I'm Steve." Only a few minutes after Quinn's "I'm Steve" remark, ''SNL'' castmember Will Ferrell appeared with Quinn as Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray. In the segment, Ferrell continuously referred to Quinn as "Norm," once commenting on Quinn's girth by saying "Norm, have you gained some weight?"
In a ''Late Show with David Letterman'' interview, Norm said that once fired, he was not allowed to have a show competing against ''SNL'''s timeslot.
After SNL
Soon after, MacDonald starred in his first movie entitled ''Dirty Work'', which was released to theaters in 1998. The film featured performances from veteran actors and comedians like Jack Warden, Don Rickles, Chevy Chase, Chris Farley, Artie Lange, and Adam Sandler. Later that year, MacDonald would also lend his voice to one of the animals in the Eddie Murphy remake of ''Doctor Dolittle'' (and its 2001 sequel ''Doctor Dolittle 2''). He would reprise the role in 2006's Doctor Dolittle 3, which did not star Eddie Murphy.In 1999, MacDonald starred in a sitcom called ''The Norm Show'', later renamed ''Norm'', co-starring Laurie Metcalf and Ian Gomez, which lasted three seasons on the ABC television network.
1999 also saw MacDonald in advertising as the voice of the Hardee's restaurant's (Carl's Jr. on the West Coast) costumed mascot, the Hardee's Star. MacDonald also appeared on Miller Lite commercials that year.
MacDonald returned to ''Saturday Night Live'' to host the October 23, 1999 show alongside musical guests Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Eminem. In his somewhat notorious opening monologue, he expressed resentment at having been fired and deduced that the only reason he was asked back to host was because SNL had gotten worse since he was fired. His multiple utterances of "God damn" were edited out of future repeats of the episode.
However, he had made an appearance (to much applause) on the September 1999 ''Saturday Night Live'' primetime special that celebrated the program's 25th year. MacDonald was one of only three former ''Weekend Update'' anchors to introduce a retrospective on the segment.
MacDonald starred in his second motion picture in 2000, entitled ''Screwed'', alongside the likes of Dave Chappelle, Elaine Stritch, Danny DeVito, and Sherman Hemsley. Like ''Dirty Work'', it flopped at the box office.
MacDonald continued to make brief appearances on television and in films, most notably in ''Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'', ''Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'' and ''The Animal'', all of which starred fellow ''SNL'' alum Rob Schneider and were produced by Adam Sandler. In 2003, MacDonald starred as the title character in ''A Minute With Stan Hooper'' during its brief run on FOX.
In 2005, MacDonald signed a deal with Comedy Central to create a new sketch comedy pilot called ''Back To Norm'', which debuted on Sunday, May 29, 2005. The pilot was never turned into a series. It was infamous for the cold opening parodying the shocking suicide of Budd Dwyer, a politician who, facing decades of incarceration, committed suicide on live television in 1987. Rob Schneider made an appearance in the pilot.
He has one film due out in 2006, now in post-production named ''Rob Schneider's Hard R''.
"The View" controversy
In 2003, MacDonald appeared on Barbara Walters' program ''The View'' and publicly renounced his Canadian citizenship over his home country's decision not to participate in the Iraq War, and said that he would be becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. However, as of January 2006, he stated that he remains a Canadian citizen. "I just keep renewing my green card," said MacDonald in a recent interview. http://www.comedycouch.com/interviews/nmacdonald.htmDuring the same interview, MacDonald said that he thought George W. Bush was "a decent man" and he jokingly called Bill Clinton a "murderer".
These statements were met with anger by the four hosts leading to a verbal tirade by Joy Behar against Norm. After the commercial break (and after MacDonald had left the studio), the women continued to slam MacDonald and his positions. http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a1417874830.htm
Norm later stated in Maxim magazine that he is completely apolitical, and that he was joking for comedic effect when he said Bill Clinton "killed a guy", a statement which was, according to Norm, taken far too seriously by the hosts. http://www.norm-macdonald.com/articles/maxim.html
Trivia
*According to one episode of "Norm", he has a Butterfree and a Squirtle.*He is number 83 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest standups of all time.
*He portrayed "Death" in one episode of the FOX animated TV show Family Guy but due to a scheduling conflict wherein Norm was on a comedy club tour, he was later replaced by Adam Carolla as the voice of "Death."
*Norm has also appeared as a voice actor for a Genie, suitably named Norm, on the cartoon series The Fairly OddParents. He appeared in two episodes ''Genie Meanie Miney Mo'' and ''Back to Norm''. For Norm the Genie's third and final appearance in the show (in the episode Fairy Idol), Norm McDonald was asked back to reprise his role but there was a schedule conflict. The character Norm was voiced by Robert Cait in the episode.
*MacDonald has been rumoured to play bass guitar in the band for country singer Blaine Larsen. However it is a simple case of Larsen introducing his bass guitarist (a MacDonald look-a-like) as "Norm MacDonald."
*In 2006 Norm had a part in a series of commercials for Canadian cell provider Bell Mobility as the voice of ''Frank the Beaver''. The campaign had a commercial tie-in with 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and with the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The ads ran heavily on CBC during the 16 days of the games and throughout the NHL's postseason.
*On September 12th, 2006, his first comedy album will be released, entitled ''Ridiculous.''
* Norm is 6' 1" tall.
External links
*World Poker Tour Profile
* Norm discussing his firing with David Letterman, a transcript from a fan's website
* Video: Norm discussing his firing with David Letterman Showbiz Notes
* Fan site for actor and comic Norm Macdonald
*Reviews of A Minute with Stan Hooper
Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!
