Cliff Norton
| Cliff Norton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Clifford Charles Norton March 21, 1918 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died |
January 25, 2003 (aged 84) Studio City, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor/Radio announcer |
| Years active | 1949–1994 |
Clifford Charles "Cliff" Norton (March 21, 1918 – January 25, 2003) was an American character actor and radio announcer who had appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades.
Career
Norton was probably best known as the announcer for Dave Garroway's radio program. He also appeared on an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show as a game warden. He was a regular panelist and presenter on the 1954 ABC game show What's Going On?.
In 1952 he appeared as himself on the short-lived NBC comedy series The Public Life of Cliff Norton, which aired five minutes a night, five nights a week at 11:10pm Eastern Time. He was also star and announcer for the 1960s syndicated program The Funny Manns, which involved silent film footage used for broad comedic effect.
Norton had a regular role in the 1966/1967 sitcom It's About Time as "Boss", the chief of a prehistoric caveman tribe which has been discovered by two American astronauts who have accidentally traveled back in time.
He played Captain Kurtz on Hogan's Heroes (Season 2 episode 23.) He played Police Chief Harris in a 1964 episode of The Munsters ("A Walk on the Mild Side")dressing in drag to capture a purse snatcher in the local park. Norton also made several appearances on Bewitched between 1968 and 1970, and in the 1967 The Monkees episode "The Picture Frame." He also provided the voice for the lead character, Ed Huddles, in Hanna-Barbera's 1970 animated prime-time series Where's Huddles?
One of Norton's film roles was Charlie, the Bailiff in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) starring Don Knotts. He also appeared in Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), Harlow (1965), Munster, Go Home! (1966), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970), Harry and Tonto (1974), Funny Lady (1975), and all-star comedy films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976).
He appeared in the short-lived weather spot Your Weather and Mine, airing locally in the Los Angeles area in 1963. The spot was sponsored by P.I.P.E..
In 1977, he appeared in "Never Con a Killer," the pilot for the ABC crime drama The Feather and Father Gang, and in the episode "Godfathers Five" of the ABC situation comedy The San Pedro Beach Bums. He played small-time thief Morrie Singer in the episode "To Stop A Steele" from the first season of the NBC series Remington Steele, airing in 1983.
Death
Norton died of natural causes on January 25, 2003 in Studio City, California.
Filmography
- Country Music Holiday (1958) - Morty Chapman
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - Reporter
- Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) - Mack Gray
- Harlow (1965) - Billy
- McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965) - Maj. Bill Grady
- The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) - Charlie, the Bailiff
- Frankie and Johnny (1966) - Eddie (uncredited)
- The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) - Charlie Hinkson
- Munster, Go Home! (1966) - Herbert
- Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came (1970) - Herman Hyde
- The Phantom Tollbooth (1970) - Kakofonous A. Dischord / Tollbooth Speaker (voice)
- Harry and Tonto (1974) - Used Car Salesman
- Funny Lady (1975) - Stage Manager
- Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) - Dog Catcher
- The Mouse and His Child (1977) - Crow #2 (voice)