One of the final roles of Norm Macdonald, who died Tuesday at the age of 61, was voicing Lieutenant Yaphit, a recurring character on Seth MacFarlane‘s hourlong space odyssey The Orville. Macdonald played Yaphit, the gelatinous, shapeshifting engineer on the Orville, in the first two seasons of the Fox series, and sources tell Deadline he’s also in the upcoming third season, which is set to stream on Hulu.
Behind-the-scenes photos from Season 3, which wrapped production in August, featured a model of Yaphit being wheeled to the set and prepped for action (you can see them below).
Before that, Macdonald guest-starred on MacFarlane’s hit animated series Family Guy.
“To so many people in comedy, me included, there was nobody funnier than Norm MacDonald,” MacFarlane wrote on Twitter following the news of Macdonald’s death. “You always hoped he would hang around after the work was done, just so you could hear his stories and get a laugh. So hilarious and so generous with his personality. I’m gonna miss him.”
MacFarlane also tweeted a link to a video of Macdonald’s memorable 1997 appearance alongside Courtney Thorne-Smith on Conan, which has become a late-night classic .
To so many people in comedy, me included, there was nobody funnier than Norm MacDonald. You always hoped he would hang around after the work was done, just so you could hear his stories and get a laugh. So hilarious and so generous with his personality. I’m gonna miss him.
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) September 14, 2021
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
Enjoy. https://t.co/n8M357vpuK
— Seth MacFarlane (@SethMacFarlane) September 14, 2021
#TheOrville @planetary_union 👽🪐 pic.twitter.com/N5rY7IraKq
— Tom Costantino (@TomCostantino) March 19, 2021
Is it Friday already? Guess it’s 🕰 for #TheOrville #S3 Yaphit pre-action, in action. @planetary_union @hulu 👽 pic.twitter.com/UIJvjzPHR9
— Tom Costantino (@TomCostantino) February 26, 2021
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