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The following biography
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Norman Gene MacDonald (born October 17,
1963 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian actor and comedian. MacDonald
became a stand up comedian, performing in comedy clubs across Canada.
MacDonald eventually moved to Los Angeles, California, and became a
writer for the popular Roseanne television series. MacDonald is known
for his biting sarcasm and distinct muttering and slurring delivery
during his stand up shows. He is the brother of Canadian journalist Neil
MacDonald.
****
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
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." [citation needed] MacDonald 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." [1]
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 f*** 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. [citation needed]
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 for all intents and
purposes with SNL ended in late 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. [citation needed] 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 man 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. [2]
During 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. [3]
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. [4]
Trivia
According to one episode of "Norm", he has
a Butterfree and a Squirtle.
Although he hadn't had much education, Norm
made it to the $1 million question on the celebrity comedian version of
ABC'S 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. He guessed twice on the $250,000
and 500,000 question and got them both right. But realizing his luck
might have been run dry, he decided to stop at $500,000. BUT, his one
guess on the last question, would have won him the million.
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 MacDonald 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.
Filmography
MacDonald in Screwed (2000 film)Billy
Madison (1995)
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
Dirty Work (1998)
Doctor Dolittle (1998) (voice)
Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) (cameo)
Man on the Moon (1999) (cameo)
Screwed (2000)
The Animal (2001) (cameo)
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) (voice)
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)
(cameo)
Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006) (voice)
Farce of the Penguins (2006)
(post-production) (voice)
Christmas Is Here Again (2006) (filming)
(voice)
Rob Schneider's Hard R (2006)
(pre-production)
****
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Date Article Copied:
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