Richard Norton is an American and Australian actor, bodyguard, martial artist, martial arts specialist, stunt performer, stunt stage director in cinema. He starred in films with such famous actors as: Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, Jackie Chan.
Fans of action movies of the 80-90s, Norton is well known for his films: "American Ninja", "Lady Dragon", "Fighter", "City Hunter". Despite his age, he still continues his creative career. In addition to filming a movie, Norton worked for a long time as a bodyguard for famous show business stars: The Rolling Stones, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, John Belushi, David Bowie, Linda Rondstad.
early years
Richard was born in Australia in January 1950. Back in his school years, he began to be seriously interested in martial arts and at the age of 12 he went to practice judo, and after a couple of years he already had a brown belt. In addition, the young man began to practice karate-do, where he soon received a black belt and goju-ryu.
For a while, Richard even worked part-time in nightclubs as a security guard. But his passion for martial arts did not end there, and soon he began to master zen to kai, became the owner of the fourth dan and a senior instructor in sports schools. Richard also studied with the master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - Jean Machado.
Bodyguard of the stars
Already in his youth, Norton became one of the most famous specialists in Australia, mastering martial arts, which allowed him to be not only a very popular teacher, but also a bodyguard. So in the early 70s, when the Rolling Stones were touring in Australia, Norton was invited to lead the group's security and become a personal bodyguard and martial arts teacher for Mick Jagger.
Richard's high professionalism and personal charm attracted more and more stars who wanted to hire him as a specialist. There were many celebrities among them: R. Gere, D. Belushi, D. Kokker, D. Bowie and others.
While still working as an instructor, Richard, together with his friend, decides to invite one of the famous actors, who is also fond of martial arts, to Australia. The choice fell on Chuck Norris, who agreed to come and give some demonstration performances. Chuck quickly became friends with Richard, appreciating his abilities and professionalism, and even offered him to move to the United States, but at that time Norton was not yet ready to leave his home country. A few years later, singer Linda Ronstadt invited him as a personal bodyguard. He agrees and goes to America, planning to stay there for several months, but in the end he will stay for many years.
Film career
Arriving in the United States, Norton again meets with Chuck Norris, who invites him to try his hand at cinema. His debut was the role of the villain in the film "Octagon", where he not only brilliantly performed his role, but also helped in staging all the scenes of battles and stunts. From that moment on, Richard's successful film career began.
Further work of Norton was associated exclusively with adventure films and action films. He also starred several times with Chuck Norris in the films: "Eye for an Eye", "Walker - Texas Ranger", "Forced Revenge". The popularity of paintings with Richard's participation was very high in those years. He was recognized as one of the best actors in various martial arts and an excellent specialist in stunt scenes.
Thanks to his fame and professionalism, Norton has become a guest actor in a number of action films filmed in China. The directors needed the image of a white man portraying a villain who is fluent in the art of fighting. So he ends up filming with Jackie Chan. After a number of successful Hong Kong action films, Norton was named the best martial artist and became the most recognizable Western actor in China.
A few years later, he was offered another role in the film "Honor and Fury", where he met Cynthia Rothrock, who in the 90s was also one of the most famous actresses who starred in action films. Thanks to these filming, Richard's popularity rose to an even higher level.
Today Norton continues to work in cinema, constantly improving his professional skills and is not only an actor, but also a director, stunt director in many films. His creative biography includes more than 40 films and TV series. He believes that he never competed with anyone and adhered to the principle of Eastern practices, where one should fight not with the enemy, but with oneself.
Personal life
Very little is known about the actor's personal life. On the set of one of his films, where Norton worked not only as an actor, but also as a co-director, he met actress Judy Green, as well as Richard, who was born in Australia. In 1993, they signed and became husband and wife.
