BREAKING: Norm Macdonald Dead at 61

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Comedy Central

Comedian Norm Macdonald has died at 61.

Macdonald passed away after a private battle with cancer for almost a decade, Deadline reports.

His longtime friend and producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra said in a statement, “He was most proud of his comedy. 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 was best known for his years of work on Saturday Night Live, especially as the anchor of Weekend Update.