1889-09-01 ( 135 years old ) in Brooklyn, New York, USA
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.
Movies
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964-09-02
I Was a Burlesque Queen
1953-07-13
Malice in the Palace
1949-09-01
Linda, Be Good
1947-11-07
Variety Girl
1947-08-29
Hired Husband
1947-05-09
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
1947-04-04
Nocturne
1946-10-29
Rhythm and Weep
1946-10-03
Shadows Over Chinatown
1946-06-27
Captain Tugboat Annie
1945-11-17
Man Alive
1945-11-16
Strange Confession
1945-10-05
The Naughty Nineties
1945-06-20
Flame of Barbary Coast
1945-05-28
The Scarlet Clue
1945-05-11
Two O'Clock Courage
1945-04-13
A Guy, a Gal and a Pal
1945-03-08
Fashion Model
1945-03-02
The Big Noise
1944-09-22
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
1944-09-18
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944-08-09
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944-07-04
Once Upon a Time
1944-06-29
Make Your Own Bed
1944-06-10
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944-05-20
Going My Way
1944-01-01
Crazy House
1943-10-08
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943-09-25
The Kansan
1943-09-10
So's Your Uncle
1943-09-01
Prairie Chickens
1943-05-21
Taxi, Mister
1943-04-16
The Falcon Strikes Back
1943-04-01
It Ain't Hay
1943-03-10
Dr. Renault's Secret
1942-10-19
Moonlight in Havana
1942-10-16
The Palm Beach Story
1942-08-28
My Favorite Spy
1942-06-12
The Spoilers
1942-06-11
Dr. Broadway
1942-05-09
Brooklyn Orchid
1942-01-31
The Fleet's In
1942-01-24
Pacific Blackout
1941-12-31
Louisiana Purchase
1941-12-31
No Hands on the Clock
1941-12-01
Ride on Vaquero
1941-04-18
Let's Make Music
1941-01-17
The Bank Dick
1940-11-29
The Villain Still Pursued Her
1940-10-11
The Way of All Flesh
1940-07-05
The Ghost Breakers
1940-06-21
Opened by Mistake
1940-05-10
The Farmer's Daughter
1940-03-29
City of Chance
1940-01-13
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939-12-01
The Roaring Twenties
1939-10-28
News Is Made at Night
1939-07-20
Grand Jury Secrets
1939-06-23
Society Smugglers
1939-03-01
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt
1939-01-27
Thanks for the Memory
1938-11-11
Meet the Girls
1938-10-06
The Awful Tooth
1938-05-26
Hold That Kiss
1938-05-13
Jezebel
1938-03-26
Arsène Lupin Returns
1938-02-25
Love Is a Headache
1938-01-14
Everybody's Doing It
1938-01-14
My Dear Miss Aldrich
1937-09-17
The Women Men Marry
1937-09-10
Meet the Missus
1937-06-04
Marked Woman
1937-04-10
Time Out for Romance
1937-02-10
Who's Looney Now
1936-08-23
Forgotten Faces
1936-05-15
Down the Ribber
1936-03-27
The Preview Murder Mystery
1936-02-28
Foolish Hearts
1935-12-27
Ship Cafe
1935-11-09
Dr. Socrates
1935-10-19
His Night Out
1935-10-01
Page Miss Glory
1935-09-07
Broadway Gondolier
1935-07-27
Don't Bet on Blondes
1935-07-13
Going Highbrow
1935-07-06
Stolen Harmony
1935-04-20
Sweet Music
1935-02-23
One More Spring
1935-02-15
Calling All Cars
1935-01-25
One Too Many
1934-12-28
Fixing a Stew
1934-11-02
Counsel on De Fence
1934-10-24
Cockeyed Cavaliers
1934-06-29
Woman Haters
1934-05-05
Finishing School
1934-05-04
The Super Snooper
1934-02-09
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