Jim Norton (actor)

Infobox actor


name = Jim Norton
caption = Jim Norton as Bishop Len Brennan
birthdate = Birth date and age|1938|1|4|mf=y
birthplace = Dublin, Ireland
olivierawards = Best Supporting Actor
2007 "The Seafarer"
tonyawards = Best Supporting Actor
2008 "The Seafarer"

Jim Norton (born January 4, 1938) is an Irish Tony Award-winning character actor.

Performances

Jim Norton has been acting for over forty years in theatre, television, and movies, and frequently plays clergymen, most notably Bishop Brennan in the sitcom "Father Ted", as well as in The Sweeney (1977), "Peak Practice" (1993), Sunset Heights (1997), A Love Divided (1999), Rebus: Black and Blue (2000), Mad About Mambo (2000), and Boxed (2003).

Television

As well as Bishop Brennan in "Father Ted", he also played Albert Einstein in two episodes of "". He appeared in two episodes of "Van der Valk", and on "Babylon 5" he appeared in a number of roles including; the Ombuds, a judge; a Narn; and Dr. Lazarenn, a Markab doctor.

He also appeared in "Waking the Dead", "Cheers" and "Frasier".

He played the role of Stan Laurel in the BBC drama "Stan".

Movies

He appeared in the 1969 epic film "Alfred the Great" as Thanet.

In 1971 he played "Chris Cawsey" (aka "The Rat Man"), one of several villains in the controversial Sam Peckinpah movie "Straw Dogs" starring Dustin Hoffman. His character had a deviously infectious, purposefully irritating laugh that helped build tension throughout the film.

He starred in the movie "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" alongside Chevy Chase in 1992.

He appeared in a brief cameo in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" in 2002 as Mr. Mason.

He can also be seen in the 2008 holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Theatre

In 2004 he took part in the touring production of Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman".

In 2006/7 he appeared in Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer" at The National Theatre, and reprised the same role in the 2008 Broadway theatre production of the play.

Audio work

Norton provided the voice for Major Kennet for the 2003 Doctor Who animated serial, "Scream of the Shalka."

He has recorded the whole of James Joyce's "Ulysses" for Naxos Audio.

Awards

Norton received a Jacob's Awards for his performance in the series, "Solo", broadcast on Telefís Éireann in 1964 in which he played a gay man. He has recently appeared as the older Stan Laurel in a TV docu-drama about the famous double-act. On May 11th 2007 he was awarded the Legend Award at the Elk Acting Festival in Dundonald, Belfast. Unfortunately Jim had not attended as he did not expect to win.

His performance as Richard Harkin in Conor McPherson's "The Seafarer" at The National Theatre won the 2007 Best Supporting Actor Laurence Olivier Award. He reprised the same role in the 2008 Broadway theatre production of the play, for which he picked up a Tony Award in 2008 for his featured performance [citeweb|url=http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gexaeM1bjsF2nYADoaYlGzVfeaCw |title=Norton congratulated for Tony Award|publisher=Press Association (UK)|accessdate=2008-06-16] .

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0636235|name=Jim Norton
* [http://www.filmreference.com/film/12/Jim-Norton.html List of Performances at FilmReference.com]