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Norm Macdonald

Canadian comedy icon Norm Macdonald has died.

The actor, writer and star of “Saturday Night Live” passed away after a private and lengthy battle with cancer. He was 61.

Media reports indicate Macdonald kept his cancer diagnosis a secret, but he lived with it for nine years.

“He was most proud of his comedy,” friend Lori Jo Hoekstra told Deadline. “He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic. He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”

Macdonald got his start as a writer on “Roseanne” in 1992, joining Saturday Night Live in 1993, where he became known for iconic impersonations and as anchor of SNL’s Weekend Update.