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Although a veteran of over 70 feature films including many grade A classics, Norris was best known as the star of many Bs, thanks to his appearances in innumerable second features during the 1930s and 1940s. The son of a prominent gynecologist, Dr. Richard Cooper Norris, he grew up in Philadelphia. At 16 he dropped out of the Culver Military Academy to marry a socially prominent physician's daughter, and took a job as a reporter. When the marriage ended two years later, Edward spent time on the west coast where a chance meeting with famed director, William A. Wellman netted him his first film work, as a double for actor Buddy Ro
Although a veteran of over 70 feature films including many grade A classics, Norris was best known as the star of many Bs, thanks to his appearances in innumerable second features during the 1930s and 1940s. The son of a prominent gynecologist, Dr. Richard Cooper Norris, he grew up in Philadelphia. At 16 he dropped out of the Culver Military Academy to marry a socially prominent physician's daughter, and took a job as a reporter. When the marriage ended two years later, Edward spent time on the west coast where a chance meeting with famed director, William A. Wellman netted him his first film work, as a double for actor Buddy Rogers in the World War I classic, Wings (1927). Taking Wellman's advice, Norris headed back east in 1928 to gain acting experience in stage productions and traveling shows. By 1933 he was back in Hollywood where he soon won a small role in Rouben Mamoulian's Queen Christina (1933), starring Greta Garbo.
His film debut landed him a long-term contract with MGM who intended to groom him as a romantic leading man. Unfortunately Louis B. Mayer soon abandoned plans for Norris after signing another handsome youngster, Robert Taylor who quickly became a studio favorite. Unfortunately, only three times during his Metro contract was Norris given opportunities commensurate with his abilities: on loan out to Fox as a kidnapping victim in the thriller Show Them No Mercy! (1935), as a young criminal attempting to save his adolescent brother in the Oscar winning drama Boys Town (1938), and notably, as a young teacher falsely accused of murdering one of his pupils in Warners' wrenching social drama They Won't Forget (1937). The latter, Norris' favorite role, won him wide acclaim and additional offers of employment from other studios which MGM nixed.
Increasingly disgruntled, Norris became temporarily lost in a sea of self-pity and booze, and in the process acquired a reputation for being rebellious and unreliable. In 1938 he left MGM and signed with Fox who also utilized him poorly. Although his first rate performance as a reformed criminal in Fox's crime drama The Escape (1939) earned accolades, the film was a second feature which garnered little attention. Sadly his other Fox films including Frontier Marshal (1939), The Gorilla (1939), and Here I Am a Stranger (1939) gave him little to do.
By 1941 Norris had conquered his demons and become a freelance actor while serving as a pilot instructor for the U.S. Army Air Force. Stationed in southern California, he continued to make movies, appearing in 26 mostly low budget features from 1941 to 1945. In 1946 Norris film career reached its zenith with his starring role as a bloodthirsty killer in Monogram's acclaimed noir classic Decoy (1946). During the following decade he also earned good reviews for memorable performances in over a dozen other features. His last screen appearance came in 1955 in the United Artists western, The Kentuckian (1955).
After he ceased making films, Norris made several guest appearances on television before retiring from acting in the early 1960s. A wealthy man, thanks to shrewd investments, he devoted the remainder of his life to managing his real estate and pursuing his innumerable hobbies including antique car and gun collections as well as raising horses.
In 1978 Norris made headlines when a firestorm destroyed his Malibu home. In 1997 he moved to Fort Bragg, a small town two hours north of San Francisco, where he died on December 18, 2002. He was 91 years old.
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