Philosopher's Stone

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Norton spent part of his childhood in Moffat Street in the Gorbals before moving to Pollokshaws. He was educated at Shawlands Academy, Glasgow. Norton's very first TV appearance was in the early 1960s on STV's live lunchtime show The One O' Clock Gang. He discovered acting at the age of fourteen via an out-of-school drama group. This led to his part in the TV series Dr. Finlay's Casebook and with it the decision that acting was the career for him. Because of his background and his father's lack of approval of his chosen career, Norton decided to avoid the traditional route into acting and instead worked from part-to-part. In 1973, he became one of the founder members of the 7:84 company, touring Scotland with The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil.

In Their Own Story

Norton appeared in The Black Adder in the episode 'Born to be King' as Dougal McAngus, 4th Duke of Argyll. In addition to his role as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart, he had previously appeared in the same series as murder suspect George Bryce in the episode 'Knife Edge' in 1986. Norton also provided the voice-overs for the ill-fated channel Sky Scottish that only ran for 18 months from November 1996 before closing down in May 1998. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel. In 2005, Norton was presented with the opportunity to play a part in Peter Jackson's King Kong; however, he could not accept the offer because it happened to interfere with the TV project he was working on at the time. He appeared on The Weakest Link TV Drama Characters Edition. He was the first one voted off. Norton also plays Grandad in the CBeebies programme Woolly and Tig. From August to September 2012, he played the role of Gerard Findlay in Waterloo Road, a hot-headed, villainous headteacher from rival school Havelock High School. Since 2013, Norton has played Eric in the sitcom Two Doors Down. In March 2014, he played Cameron Watt in the 'Dead Water' episodes of the BBC One crime drama series Shetland. In 2014, Norton appeared in the documentary I Belong To Glasgow, a BBC Scotland production in which he guest starred alongside Karen Dunbar.

Reader's Guide

Norton has also won two awards for writing. 'Extras', an episode of First Sight for Channel 4 and Waiting for Elvis for STV. He also has an interest in directing. He directed the first production of Tony Roper's The Steamie, as well as directing Glasgow's King's Theatre's pantomimes for a five-year period. He has also done voice over work on Medieval Total War II as the voice of some of the Scottish characters in the game, along with voicing Gaunter O'Dimm in Hearts of Stone, an expansion pack for the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Lord Robert in Dragon Quest XI. He provided additional vocals on 'The Song of Mor'du' in Brave, which also featured his wife Sally Kinghorn. Norton hosted the STV crime show Unsolved. In the 1970s he met his wife, Sally Kinghorn. They met on the set of a BBC Schools series. The couple have three sons, Jamie, Rory and Jock. In 2014, at the time of the Scottish independence referendum, Norton endorsed a 'No' vote in opposition to independence. He has, however, confirmed his support for Scottish independence since the referendum.

Did You Know?

• Norton's very first TV appearance was in the early 1960s on STV's live lunchtime show The One O' Clock Gang.
• He was one of the founder members of the 7:84 company in 1973, touring Scotland with The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil.
• Norton appeared in The Black Adder episode 'Born to be King' as Dougal McAngus, 4th Duke of Argyll.
• He provided the voice-overs for the ill-fated channel Sky Scottish that only ran for 18 months from November 1996 before closing down in May 1998.
• Norton was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel.