Jim Norton

Distinguished Irish character actor of stage and screen, one of two siblings born in Dublin to parents Eugene and Frances Norton. His parents were musically inclined, his father being a baritone, his mother a violinist. Jim first performed on radio at the age of ten. Having decided upon his career path after seeing On the Waterfront (1954) with Marlon Brando at a Dublin cinema, he made his professional acting debut aged twenty at the Gate Theatre in a production of A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill. Norton's career on the stage has since encompassed performances at the London Old Vic, the National Theatre and on Broadway, where he has starred In Finian's Rainbow (title character), The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Of Mice and Men and The Crucible. His collaborations with playwright Conor McPherson have included a Tony Award-winning performance in The Seafarer (his personal favorite role as the blind, cranky drunkard Richard Harkin).