Jack Norton
Age: 69 | From: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Person Details
Birthday: 1889-09-02 03:34:41
Death: 1958-10-15 03:34:41
Aliases: No known aliases
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 32
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
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.
Most Famous Work
Jezebel
(1938) Drunk (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties
(1939) Drunk at Henderson Club (uncredited)
The Spoilers
(1942) Mr. Skinner
The Preview Murder Mystery
(1936) Comedy Director (Uncredited)
Dr. Renault's Secret
(1942) Mr. Austin
Flame of Barbary Coast
(1945) Byline Conners, Reporter San Francisco Star
Marked Woman
(1937) Drunk
The Kansan
(1943) Saloon DrunkActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | (archive footage) | |
| 1953 | Jim Benson | |
| 1949 | Emir of Schmoe (uncredited) | |
| 1947 | Jim Benson | |
| Busboy at Brown Derby | ||
| Mr. Drinkwater | ||
| James R. Smoke | ||
| 1946 | Charlie | |
| Mr. Walsh | ||
| Cosgrove | ||
| 1945 | Shiftless | |
| William T. Lafferty | ||
| Jack | ||
| Drunk at the Gilded Cage (uncredited) | ||
| Byline Conners, Reporter San Francisco Star | ||
| Willie Rand | ||
| Norton | ||
| Herbert | ||
| 1944 | 'Janssen' Passenger (uncredited) | |
| Man In Barber Chair (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk | ||
| Hotel Desk Clerk | ||
| Mr. Lilly (uncredited) | ||
| 1943 | Country Club Man Ordering Champagne (uncredited) | |
| Drunk | ||
| Saloon Drunk | ||
| Drunk | ||
| Henry Lewis-Clark III | ||
| Reginald Van Nostrum - the Drunk | ||
| Second Hobo (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk (uncredited) | ||
| 1942 | Mr. Austin | |
| George | ||
| Second Member Ale and Quail Club | ||
| Orchid Room Drunk | ||
| Mr. Skinner | ||
| Jonathan McFeeder | ||
| Kellogg | ||
| 1941 | Jester | |
| Drunk | ||
| Bartender at The Nugget Room | ||
| N/A | ||
| Drunk | ||
| 1940 | A. Pismo Clam | |
| Drunk | ||
| Barber | ||
| Drunk (uncredited) | ||
| Al, the Bartender | ||
| Shimmy Conway | ||
| Mr. Murphy | ||
| 1939 | Parker | |
| Drunk at Henderson Club (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk | ||
| Doyle | ||
| Prentis | ||
| Charlie Fenton - the Party Drunk | ||
| 1938 | Bert Monroe | |
| Fletcher | ||
| Dr. Schultz | ||
| Mallory | ||
| Drunk (uncredited) | ||
| Hotel Manager (uncredited) | ||
| Harry The Drunk | ||
| Bartender (uncredited) | ||
| 1937 | First Drunk at Red Apple Inn (uncredited) | |
| Wilhelm Peebles (uncredited) | ||
| Mr. Norton | ||
| Drunk | ||
| Crapshooter | ||
| 1936 | Herbert Brown | |
| N/A | ||
| Comedy Director (Uncredited) | ||
| 1935 | Jimmy | |
| Mr. Randall (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk in Park | ||
| Dr. Singer | ||
| Reporter (uncredited) | ||
| Man on Ship with Pipe | ||
| J. Mortimer 'Mousy' Slade | ||
| Sinclair | ||
| Phillips (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk (uncredited) | ||
| Drunk | ||
| Duke Costello | ||
| 1934 | N/A | |
| Pete | ||
| King's Physician | ||
| Drunk (uncredited) | ||
| N/A | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
