Jack Norton

Acting · 0.5 popularity

Age

136

Movies

101

Born: September 1, 1889 – October 15, 1958
From: Brooklyn, New York, USA

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jack Norton (September 2, 1882 – October 15, 1958) was an American stage and film character actor who appeared in 184 films between 1934 and 1948, often playing drunks, although in real life he was a teetotaler. Career Jack Norton was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 1882. In his early career he had a vaudeville comedy act with his wife Lillian Healy. Norton made his Broadway debut in 1925 in that year's edition of Earl Carroll's Vanities, and also appeared in Florida Girl, which was produced and staged by Carroll. Norton's first film work was for a musical short, School for Romance, in 1934, in which a young Betty Grable appeared, but his scenes were deleted. His work survived to reach the screen in his next assignment, The Super Snooper, a comedy short, and in his third film, his first full-length movie, Finishing School, which featured Frances Dee, Billie Burke, Ginger Rogers and Bruce Cabot, Norton played a drunk, setting the pattern for many of his future performances. Although he also played stone sober characters as well, he was best known for his inebriated characterizations, and he improved his work by following genuine drunks around, picking up behavioral tips. Norton worked continuously and consistently, sometimes appearing in as many as 20 films in one year, although many of his performances went uncredited. One of the few times he was credited as part of the main cast was in 1945 for the film A Guy, a Gal and a Pal In the 1940s, Norton was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in five films written and directed by Sturges. He is perhaps best known to modern audiences as A. Pismo Clam, the drunken film director whom W.C. Fields is hired to replace in The Bank Dick (1940). In 1947, Norton retired from films due to illness, his last appearance being in Alias a Gentlemen, which was released in 1948, although he did make some live television appearances in the early 1950s. Jack Norton's final appearance would have been in the 1956 episode of The Honeymooners entitled "Unconventional Behavior", but age and infirmity had so overwhelmed him that he was literally written out of the show as it was being filmed, though Jackie Gleason saw to it that Norton was paid fully for the performance he was ready, willing, but unable to give. Norton died on October 15, 1958 in Saranac Lake, New York at the age of 76. He is buried in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton, New York on Long Island.

Works

101 films

The Ghost Breakers

19406.5

Jezebel

19387.0

The Roaring Twenties

19397.5

Marked Woman

19376.6

Going My Way

19446.7

The Bank Dick

19406.5

Hail the Conquering Hero

19447.1

The Spoilers

19426.2

The Naughty Nineties

19456.7

Cockeyed Cavaliers

19345.8

The Big Parade of Comedy

19647.2

The Story of Dr. Wassell

19446.4

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

19446.8

Dr. Broadway

19426.0

The Palm Beach Story

19427.0

Finishing School

19346.2

Bob Hope's World of Comedy

1976

Variety Girl

19476.5

The Gilded Lily

19356.7

Hold That Blonde!

19456.3

Once Upon a Time

19445.8

Time Out for Romance

19376.0

It Ain't Hay

19436.5

Flame of Barbary Coast

19455.5

The Villain Still Pursued Her

19405.2

Crazy House

19436.0

Captain Tugboat Annie

19458.0

The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt

19396.6

Thank Your Lucky Stars

19436.2

Nocturne

19465.9

Don't Bet on Blondes

19355.8

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

19476.4

His Night Out

19357.0

Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat

19446.5

So's Your Uncle

19436.0

Pacific Blackout

19416.6

Hold That Kiss

19387.0

Louisiana Purchase

19416.7

A Night at Earl Carroll's

19404.5

Dr. Socrates

19356.6

Everybody's Doing It

19386.0

Strange Confession

19456.9

Calling All Cars

19356.0

The Big Noise

19446.1

The Preview Murder Mystery

19365.8

Going Highbrow

19356.5

Society Smugglers

19396.2

Dr. Renault's Secret

19425.5

Page Miss Glory

19356.7

The Way of All Flesh

19404.6

The Kansan

19436.0

Meet the Girls

19385.0

Meet the Missus

19376.5

My Dear Miss Aldrich

19376.3

Make Your Own Bed

19446.0

City of Chance

19405.6

Stolen Harmony

19358.0

I Was a Burlesque Queen

19533.0

Thanks for the Memory

19385.8

Ship Cafe

19358.0

Broadway Gondolier

19356.0

Shadows Over Chinatown

19466.2

Brooklyn Orchid

19426.7

News Is Made at Night

19394.8

The Farmer's Daughter

19405.3

The Scarlet Clue

19456.0

Arsène Lupin Returns

19386.3

No Hands on the Clock

19415.6

Sweet Music

19356.8

The Women Men Marry

19376.3

One More Spring

19356.2

Opened by Mistake

19407.0

Love Is a Headache

19386.5

Grand Jury Secrets

19397.0

The Fleet's In

19427.3

My Favorite Spy

19425.7

Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President

19395.0

Woman Haters

19346.3

The Falcon Strikes Back

19435.6

Two O'Clock Courage

19456.3

Taxi, Mister

19434.2

Down the Ribber

193610.0

Prairie Chickens

19438.0

Moonlight in Havana

19429.0

Linda, Be Good

19476.7

Malice in the Palace

19495.8

Counsel on De Fence

19343.0

Forgotten Faces

19365.5

Hired Husband

19478.0

The Super Snooper

19348.0

Man Alive

19455.6

Let's Make Music

19416.0

A Guy, a Gal and a Pal

19459.0

Rhythm and Weep

19465.9

Ride on Vaquero

19415.2

Fashion Model

19455.0

The Awful Tooth

19386.7

Foolish Hearts

1935

Who's Looney Now

19368.0

One Too Many

19349.0

Fixing a Stew

19349.0