Jack Norton
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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.
Known for
Credits
Finishing School (1934)
as Drunk (uncredited)
Marked Woman (1937)
as Drunk
Jezebel (1938)
as Drunk (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
as Drunk at Henderson Club (uncredited)
Going My Way (1944)
as Mr. Lilly (uncredited)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
as Second Member Ale and Quail Club
The Spoilers (1942)
as Mr. Skinner
Variety Girl (1947)
as Busboy at Brown Derby
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
as Drunk (uncredited)
The Naughty Nineties (1945)
as Drunk at the Gilded Cage (uncredited)
The Gilded Lily (1935)
as Photographer (uncredited)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
as 'Janssen' Passenger (uncredited)
Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934)
as King's Physician
The Bank Dick (1940)
as A. Pismo Clam
Dr. Broadway (1942)
as Drunk (uncredited)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
as Country Club Man Ordering Champagne (uncredited)
It Ain't Hay (1943)
as Drunk (uncredited)
Hold That Blonde! (1945)
as Drunk (uncredited)
Broadway Gondolier (1935)
as Man on Ship with Pipe
The Kansan (1943)
as Saloon Drunk
The Fleet's In (1942)
as Kellogg
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)
as James R. Smoke
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
as Customer in Bette Davis Number (uncredited)
Two O'Clock Courage (1945)
as Drunk at Blue Room Bar (uncredited)
The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940)
as Drunk
Crazy House (1943)
as Drunk
Bob Hope's World of Comedy (1976)
as Self - Tribute Montage (archive footage)
Nocturne (1946)
as Charlie (uncredited)
City of Chance (1940)
as Mr. Murphy
Once Upon a Time (1944)
as Man In Barber Chair (uncredited)
Woman Haters (1934)
as Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
as Actor in 'The Girl from Missouri' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Arsène Lupin Returns (1938)
as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat (1944)
as Hotel Desk Clerk
Pacific Blackout (1941)
as Drunk
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
as Byline Conners, Reporter San Francisco Star
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939)
as Charlie Fenton - the Party Drunk (uncredited)
Don't Bet on Blondes (1935)
as J. Mortimer 'Mousy' Slade
The Falcon Strikes Back (1943)
as Second Hobo (uncredited)
Dr. Socrates (1935)
as Drunk in Park
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
as Second Bandleader (uncredited)
Louisiana Purchase (1941)
as Jester
Everybody's Doing It (1938)
as Harry The Drunk
The Big Noise (1944)
as Drunk on Train
So's Your Uncle (1943)
as Drunk
Love Is a Headache (1938)
as Bartender (uncredited)
My Favorite Spy (1942)
as Orchid Room Drunk
Malice in the Palace (1949)
as Emir of Schmoe (uncredited)
Hold That Kiss (1938)
as Mallory
Stolen Harmony (1935)
as Phillips (uncredited)
One More Spring (1935)
as Drunk
Rhythm and Weep (1946)
as Mr. Walsh
The Scarlet Clue (1945)
as Willie Rand
Time Out for Romance (1937)
as Crapshooter
Shadows Over Chinatown (1946)
as Cosgrove
Brooklyn Orchid (1942)
as Jonathan McFeeder
Strange Confession (1945)
as Jack
Prairie Chickens (1943)
as Henry Lewis-Clark III
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President (1939)
as Parker
Taxi, Mister (1943)
as Reginald Van Nostrum - the Drunk
The Preview Murder Mystery (1936)
as Comedy Director (Uncredited)
Forgotten Faces (1936)
as Drunk
The Farmer's Daughter (1940)
as Shimmy Conway
The Way of All Flesh (1940)
as Barber
Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)
as Mr. Austin
The Awful Tooth (1938)
as Dr. Schultz
News Is Made at Night (1939)
as Drunk
No Hands on the Clock (1941)
as Bartender at The Nugget Room
His Night Out (1935)
as Dr. Singer
Make Your Own Bed (1944)
as Drunk
Sweet Music (1935)
as Drunk (uncredited)
The Super Snooper (1934)
Actor
Society Smugglers (1939)
as Prentis
Page Miss Glory (1935)
as Reporter (uncredited)
Ship Cafe (1935)
as Mr. Randall (uncredited)
Calling All Cars (1935)
as Duke Costello
Meet the Missus (1937)
as Mr. Norton
The Women Men Marry (1937)
as Wilhelm Peebles (uncredited)
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
as Bert Monroe
A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940)
as Alonzo Smith
Ride on Vaquero (1941)
Actor
Opened by Mistake (1940)
as Al, the Bartender
Man Alive (1945)
as William T. Lafferty
Let's Make Music (1941)
as Drunk
I Was a Burlesque Queen (1953)
as Jim Benson
Grand Jury Secrets (1939)
as Doyle
Linda, Be Good (1947)
as Jim Benson
Fashion Model (1945)
as Herbert
Who's Looney Now (1936)
as Herbert Brown
Meet the Girls (1938)
as Fletcher
Going Highbrow (1935)
as Sinclair
Counsel on De Fence (1934)
Actor
Captain Tugboat Annie (1945)
as Shiftless
Moonlight in Havana (1942)
as George
Down the Ribber (1936)
Actor
My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937)
as First Drunk at Red Apple Inn (uncredited)
A Guy, a Gal and a Pal (1945)
as Norton
Fixing a Stew (1934)
as Pete
Hired Husband (1947)
as Mr. Drinkwater
One Too Many (1934)
Actor
Foolish Hearts (1935)
as Jimmy