Norm Macdonald

Norm Macdonald

Date of Birth: October 17, 1963

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Norm MacDonald, started out doing stand up in Ottawa and then in comedy clubs throughout Canada. Realizing there is no money to be made in the Great White North, he wisely moved to L.A. to further his career where he wrote for Roseanne for a while and continued his stand-up.

Like many Canadians before him -- Dan Akyroyd, Mike Myers, Martin Short -- MacDonald ended up on that American show produced by a Canadian (Lorne Michaels), Saturday Night Live.

While on SNL, MacDonald became the "anchor person" for the show's popular Weekend Update fake news broadcast. He also created numerous memorable impersonations including, Bob Dole, David Letterman, Quentin Tarantino and Burt Reynolds. After three years, MacDonald was unceremoniously dumped and replaced by Colin Quinn because the head of NBC said he wasn't funny enough. One suspects there was a little behind-scenes politics -- or perhaps personality clashing -- going on that resulted in MacDonald getting fired from his prime gig.

Be that as it may, while doing his Weekend Update bit, MacDonald says: "I was very unpolitical when I was doing 'the news.' Like most Canadians, I never really had much point of a view."

Having played minor roles in various films such as Billy Madison, voicing the dog Lucky in Dr. Doolittle and a small stint in The People vs. Larry Flynt, MacDonald decided to taking lead roles. In 1998, MacDonald starred in Dirty Work, a film that he co-wrote. In the movie, he and Artie Lange play two buddies who open a revenge-for-hire business. The movie was bashed by critics and bombed at the box office, but MacDonald's true fans loved it. He second starring role will be in Screwed, which is scheduled for summer 2000. He plays a chauffeur who tries to ransom the pet pooch of his employer.

Macdonald has became more widely recognized since he launched his own sitcom on ABC. Though he has said himself that he doesn't like sitcoms, he's managed to bring his own wry humor that we saw on Weekend Update into his show, aptly called Norm. In it, MacDonald plays a former hockey player who was arrested for gambling and tax evasion, and now has to do community service as a social worker.

MacDonald is presently divorced with a son, Dylan. He lives between New York and L.A.

Filmography:

Screwed (2000)
Man on the Moon (1999)
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
Dirty Work (1998)
Doctor Dolittle (1998) (voice)
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
Billy Madison (1995)