David Letterman, Conan O'Brien among stars mourning death of Norm Macdonald

The news of the death of stand-up comedian and legendary "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update anchor Norm Macdonald sent shockwaves through the comic community Tuesday, with many turning to social media to mourn him.

Macdonald, who was a member of the sketch show's cast from 1993 to 1998, died after a private, yearslong battle with cancer, his producing partner and friend, Lori Jo Hoekstra, told ABC News. Macdonald was 61 years old.

"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," Hoekstra said in a statement. "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."

Others who paid tribute to the late comedian included:

David Letterman

Conan O'Brien

Jon Stewart tweeted: "No one could make you break like Norm Macdonald. Hilarious and unique. F--- cancer."

Seth Rogen tweeted: "Oh f---. I was a huge fan of Norm Macdonald and I essentially ripped off his delivery when I first started acting. I would stay up specifically to watch him on talk shows. He was the funniest guest of all time. We lost a comedy giant today. One of the the all time greats. RIP."

Gilbert Gottfried

Seth MacFarlane

Bob Saget

Whitney Cummings

Ken Jeong

Tom Green