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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
September 1, 1889
Died
October 15, 1958
Place of Birth
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Also Known As
- Mortimer John Naughton
Jack Norton
0.2 Popularity
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.
Known For
6.3
Actor in 'The Girl from Missouri' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
1.0
Jim Benson
I Was a Burlesque Queen
1953
5.6
Emir of Schmoe (uncredited)
Malice in the Palace
1949
0.0
Jim Benson
Linda, Be Good
1947
6.1
Busboy at Brown Derby
Variety Girl
1947
0.0
Mr. Drinkwater
Hired Husband
1947
6.3
James R. Smoke
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
1947
5.8
Charlie (uncredited)
Nocturne
1946
5.3
Mr. Walsh
Rhythm and Weep
1946
5.8
Cosgrove
Shadows Over Chinatown
1946
Credits
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Actor in 'The Girl from Missouri' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1964
6.3
I Was a Burlesque Queen
as Jim Benson
1953
1.0
Malice in the Palace
as Emir of Schmoe (uncredited)
1949
5.6
Linda, Be Good
as Jim Benson
1947
0.0
Variety Girl
as Busboy at Brown Derby
1947
6.1
Hired Husband
as Mr. Drinkwater
1947
0.0
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
as James R. Smoke
1947
6.3
Nocturne
as Charlie (uncredited)
1946
5.8
Rhythm and Weep
as Mr. Walsh
1946
5.3
Shadows Over Chinatown
as Cosgrove
1946
5.8
Captain Tugboat Annie
as Shiftless
1945
0.0
Man Alive
as William T. Lafferty
1945
5.1
Strange Confession
as Jack
1945
6.8
The Naughty Nineties
as Drunk at the Gilded Cage (uncredited)
1945
6.8
Flame of Barbary Coast
as Byline Conners, Reporter San Francisco Star
1945
5.6
The Scarlet Clue
as Willie Rand
1945
5.9
Two O'Clock Courage
as Drunk at Blue Room Bar (uncredited)
1945
6.1
A Guy, a Gal and a Pal
as Norton
1945
0.0
Fashion Model
as Herbert
1945
3.0
The Big Noise
as Drunk on Train
1944
6.0
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
as Country Club Man Ordering Champagne (uncredited)
1944
6.8
Hail the Conquering Hero
as Second Bandleader (uncredited)
1944
7.0
The Story of Dr. Wassell
as 'Janssen' Passenger (uncredited)
1944
6.3
Once Upon a Time
as Man In Barber Chair (uncredited)
1944
5.8
Make Your Own Bed
as Drunk
1944
5.8
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
as Hotel Desk Clerk
1944
6.4
Going My Way
as Mr. Lilly (uncredited)
1944
6.7
Crazy House
as Drunk
1943
5.0
Thank Your Lucky Stars
as Customer in Bette Davis Number (uncredited)
1943
6.1
The Kansan
as Saloon Drunk
1943
5.3
So's Your Uncle
as Drunk
1943
5.0
Prairie Chickens
as Henry Lewis-Clark III
1943
0.0
Taxi, Mister
as Reginald Van Nostrum - the Drunk
1943
4.2
The Falcon Strikes Back
as Second Hobo (uncredited)
1943
5.6
It Ain't Hay
as Drunk (uncredited)
1943
6.4
Dr. Renault's Secret
as Mr. Austin
1942
5.2
Moonlight in Havana
as George
1942
0.0
The Palm Beach Story
as Second Member Ale and Quail Club
1942
7.0
My Favorite Spy
as Orchid Room Drunk
1942
5.2
The Spoilers
as Mr. Skinner
1942
6.2
Dr. Broadway
as Drunk
1942
5.0
Brooklyn Orchid
as Jonathan McFeeder
1942
6.0
The Fleet's In
as Kellogg
1942
7.0
Louisiana Purchase
as Jester
1941
6.6
Pacific Blackout
as Drunk
1941
6.3
No Hands on the Clock
as Bartender at The Nugget Room
1941
4.9
Ride on Vaquero
1941
4.2
Let's Make Music
as Drunk
1941
5.6
A Night at Earl Carroll's
as Alonzo Smith
1940
3.5
The Bank Dick
as A. Pismo Clam
1940
6.5
The Villain Still Pursued Her
as Drunk
1940
5.1
The Way of All Flesh
as Barber
1940
4.0
The Ghost Breakers
as Drunk (uncredited)
1940
6.5
Opened by Mistake
as Al, the Bartender
1940
0.0
The Farmer's Daughter
as Shimmy Conway
1940
5.0
City of Chance
as Mr. Murphy
1940
5.2
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
as Parker
1939
2.0
The Roaring Twenties
as Drunk at Henderson Club (uncredited)
1939
7.5
News Is Made at Night
as Drunk
1939
4.5
Grand Jury Secrets
as Doyle
1939
0.0
Society Smugglers
as Prentis
1939
5.6
The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt
as Charlie Fenton - the Party Drunk (uncredited)
1939
6.6
Thanks for the Memory
as Bert Monroe
1938
5.7
Meet the Girls
as Fletcher
1938
4.5
The Awful Tooth
as Dr. Schultz
1938
6.8
Hold That Kiss
as Mallory
1938
6.5
Jezebel
as Drunk (uncredited)
1938
7.0
Arsène Lupin Returns
as Hotel Manager (uncredited)
1938
5.8
Love Is a Headache
as Bartender (uncredited)
1938
5.7
Everybody's Doing It
as Harry The Drunk
1938
5.0
My Dear Miss Aldrich
as First Drunk at Red Apple Inn (uncredited)
1937
6.1
The Women Men Marry
as Wilhelm Peebles (uncredited)
1937
5.5
Meet the Missus
as Mr. Norton
1937
4.0
Marked Woman
as Drunk
1937
6.5
Time Out for Romance
as Crapshooter
1937
5.6
Who's Looney Now
as Herbert Brown
1936
0.0
Forgotten Faces
as Drunk
1936
0.0
Down the Ribber
1936
0.0
The Preview Murder Mystery
as Comedy Director (Uncredited)
1936
5.6
🎬
Foolish Hearts
as Jimmy
1935
0.0
Ship Cafe
as Mr. Randall (uncredited)
1935
0.0
Dr. Socrates
as Drunk in Park
1935
6.4
His Night Out
as Dr. Singer
1935
0.0
Page Miss Glory
as Reporter (uncredited)
1935
6.3
Broadway Gondolier
as Man on Ship with Pipe
1935
5.4
Don't Bet on Blondes
as J. Mortimer 'Mousy' Slade
1935
5.0
Going Highbrow
as Sinclair
1935
6.0
Stolen Harmony
as Phillips (uncredited)
1935
6.0
Sweet Music
as Drunk (uncredited)
1935
5.7
One More Spring
as Drunk
1935
5.8
The Gilded Lily
as Photographer (uncredited)
1935
6.4
Calling All Cars
as Duke Costello
1935
2.0
🎬
One Too Many
1934
0.0
Fixing a Stew
as Pete
1934
0.0
Counsel on De Fence
1934
1.0
Cockeyed Cavaliers
as King's Physician
1934
6.0
Woman Haters
as Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
1934
6.0
Finishing School
as Drunk (uncredited)
1934
6.2
The Super Snooper
1934
0.0