Following the tragic and unexpected news of the death of comedian and performer Norm Macdonald, fans are looking back on his illustrious career — as well as his earnings from his four decades in show business. 

Macdonald’s career was successful nearly from the beginning and he was a young star in the comedy world. However, his break into Hollywood came in 1992 after being hired as a writer for the hit show “Roseanne,” per Variety. Shortly afterward, he was offered a starring role as part of the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” which unsurprisingly changed his life forever. It is estimated that he earned around $260,000 annually during his later years on the fabled comedy program — which comes to around $463,000 today when calculating for inflation (per The Richest).

With his new public profile, Macdonald was also able to branch out into writing and acting as well leading to a number of hits in both television and film. For example, he voiced the character Lucky in 1998’s “Dr. Dolittle.” Though his salary was not publicized, the movie was a massive hit and made a mammoth $144 million at the box office. Macdonald also starred in the movie’s sequel, which earned $113 million, according to Celebrity Mirror.

Macdonald didn’t just make money from his comedy and voiceovers. Thanks to his cult following, he was highly sought after as a brand ambassador, and he earned sponsorships with several companies including telecommunications firm Bell Mobility and AT&T, per Celebrity Net Worth. However, his most well-known brand collaboration was arguably when he dressed up as Colonel Sanders in 2015 for a number of KFC commercials.

Macdonald's gambling addiction nearly cost him his fortune

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