Jack Norton
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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.
Acted in
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Actor in 'The Girl from Missouri' (archive footage) (uncredited)
I Was a Burlesque Queen
1953
as Jim Benson
Malice in the Palace
1949
as Emir of Schmoe (uncredited)
Linda, Be Good
1947
as Jim Benson
Variety Girl
1947
as Busboy at Brown Derby
Hired Husband
1947
as Mr. Drinkwater
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
1947
as James R. Smoke
Nocturne
1946
as Charlie
Rhythm and Weep
1946
as Mr. Walsh
Shadows Over Chinatown
1946
as Cosgrove
Captain Tugboat Annie
1945
as Shiftless
Man Alive
1945
as William T. Lafferty
Strange Confession
1945
as Jack
The Naughty Nineties
1945
as Drunk at the Gilded Cage (uncredited)
Flame of Barbary Coast
1945
as Byline Conners, Reporter San Francisco Star
The Scarlet Clue
1945
as Willie Rand
Two O'Clock Courage
1945
as Drunk at Blue Room Bar (uncredited)
A Guy, a Gal and a Pal
1945
as Norton
Fashion Model
1945
as Herbert
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
as 'Janssen' Passenger (uncredited)
Once Upon a Time
1944
as Man In Barber Chair (uncredited)
Make Your Own Bed
1944
as Drunk
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1944
as Hotel Desk Clerk
Going My Way
1944
as Mr. Lilly (uncredited)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
1943
as Country Club Man Ordering Champagne (uncredited)
Crazy House
1943
as Drunk
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
as Customer in Bette Davis Number (uncredited)
The Kansan
1943
as Saloon Drunk
So's Your Uncle
1943
as Drunk
Prairie Chickens
1943
as Henry Lewis-Clark III
Taxi, Mister
1943
as Reginald Van Nostrum - the Drunk
The Falcon Strikes Back
1943
as Second Hobo (uncredited)
It Ain't Hay
1943
as Drunk (uncredited)
Dr. Renault's Secret
1942
as Mr. Austin
Moonlight in Havana
1942
as George
The Palm Beach Story
1942
as Second Member Ale and Quail Club
My Favorite Spy
1942
as Orchid Room Drunk
The Spoilers
1942
as Mr. Skinner
Dr. Broadway
1942
as Drunk
Brooklyn Orchid
1942
as Jonathan McFeeder
The Fleet's In
1942
as Kellogg
Pacific Blackout
1941
as Drunk
Louisiana Purchase
1941
as Jester
No Hands on the Clock
1941
as Bartender at The Nugget Room
Ride on Vaquero
1941
Let's Make Music
1941
as Drunk
The Bank Dick
1940
as A. Pismo Clam
The Villain Still Pursued Her
1940
as Drunk
The Way of All Flesh
1940
as Barber
The Ghost Breakers
1940
as Drunk (uncredited)
Opened by Mistake
1940
as Al, the Bartender
The Farmer's Daughter
1940
as Shimmy Conway
City of Chance
1940
as Mr. Murphy
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939
as Parker
The Roaring Twenties
1939
as Drunk at Henderson Club (uncredited)
News Is Made at Night
1939
as Drunk
Grand Jury Secrets
1939
as Doyle
Society Smugglers
1939
as Prentis
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt
1939
as Charlie Fenton - the Party Drunk (uncredited)
Thanks for the Memory
1938
as Bert Monroe
Meet the Girls
1938
as Fletcher
The Awful Tooth
1938
as Dr. Schultz
Hold That Kiss
1938
as Mallory
Jezebel
1938
as Drunk (uncredited)
Arsène Lupin Returns
1938
as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Love Is a Headache
1938
as Bartender (uncredited)
Everybody's Doing It
1938
as Harry The Drunk
My Dear Miss Aldrich
1937
as First Drunk at Red Apple Inn (uncredited)
The Women Men Marry
1937
as Wilhelm Peebles (uncredited)
Meet the Missus
1937
as Mr. Norton
Marked Woman
1937
as Drunk
Time Out for Romance
1937
as Crapshooter
Who's Looney Now
1936
as Herbert Brown
Forgotten Faces
1936
as Drunk
Down the Ribber
1936
The Preview Murder Mystery
1936
as Comedy Director (Uncredited)
Foolish Hearts
1935
as Jimmy
Ship Cafe
1935
as Mr. Randall (uncredited)
Dr. Socrates
1935
as Drunk in Park
His Night Out
1935
as Dr. Singer
Page Miss Glory
1935
as Reporter (uncredited)
Broadway Gondolier
1935
as Man on Ship with Pipe
Don't Bet on Blondes
1935
as J. Mortimer 'Mousy' Slade
Going Highbrow
1935
as Sinclair
Stolen Harmony
1935
as Phillips (uncredited)
Sweet Music
1935
as Drunk (uncredited)
One More Spring
1935
as Drunk
Calling All Cars
1935
as Duke Costello
One Too Many
1934
Fixing a Stew
1934
as Pete
Counsel on De Fence
1934
Cockeyed Cavaliers
1934
as King's Physician
Finishing School
1934
as Drunk (uncredited)
The Super Snooper
1934