Jack Norton was a renowned American stage and film character actor, born in Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 1882. He began his career in vaudeville, performing alongside his wife Lillian Healy in a comedy act. Norton made his Broadway debut in 1925, appearing in Earl Carroll's Vanities and Florida Girl.
In 1934, Norton started his film career with a musical short, School for Romance, although his scenes were later deleted. His breakthrough role came in Finishing School, where he played a drunk, a characterization he would become famous for. Norton's ability to convincingly portray inebriated characters was honed by observing genuine drunks and picking up their mannerisms.
Throughout his career, Norton worked consistently, appearing in up to 20 films in a single year. He often played stone-cold sober characters as well, but his inebriated portrayals earned him widespread recognition. Norton was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in five films written and directed by Sturges.
One of Norton's most iconic roles was as A. Pismo Clam, the drunken film director in The Bank Dick (1940). He continued to work in films until 1947, when he retired due to illness. His last film appearance was in Alias a Gentlemen, released in 1948.
Norton made some live television appearances in the early 1950s, but his final appearance would have been in the 1956 episode of The Honeymooners, "Unconventional Behavior". However, due to age and infirmity, he was written out of the show as it was being filmed. Norton died on October 15, 1958, at the age of 76, in Saranac Lake, New York. He is buried in Sacred Hearts Cemetery in Southampton, New York.
