Septimus Edward Norris (March 10, 1911 – December 18, 2002) was an American film actor.

Early years

Norris was born in 1911, the son of a prominent Philadelphia

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined ...

, who was described in a newspaper article as "a famous surgeon and chief of staff at the city's largest hospital." He grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Pennsylvania. At age 16, he dropped out of the Culver Military Academy to marry a socially prominent physician's daughter, Virginia Bell Hiller, and took a job as a reporter.

Television

Norris made his television debut in 1951 with two appearances on '' Fireside Theater''. During the course of his 12-year span on television he made two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'': "The Case of the Fiery Fingers" (1958) and "The Case of the Tarnished Trademark" (1962). He ended his film and television career the following year when he appeared on an episode of ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...

'', titled "Ghost Town".

Military service

Norris was a flying instructor in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Personal life

After Hiller, Norris was married to actresses Ann Sheridan and Lona Andre. On July 21, 1942, newspaper columnist Harrison Carroll reported that Norris "eloped to Arizona Saturday with a new Hollywood beauty who gave her name as Jane Doe." Another newspaper report said, "An affidavit on file testified that the girl's correct name was Jane Doe." The bride's real name was revealed by columnist Jimmie Fidler on July 30, 1942: "The girl Edward Norris married and introduced to reporters as 'Jane Doe' is June Satterlee, ex-night club hatcheck looker. She's to make a picture to be titled ''Meet Jane Doe''." In March 1943, Norris was granted a divorce from Satterlee "after testifying that she married him solely to further her career in pictures." Norris was an avid shooter and "won many ribbons and trophies in skeet matches throughout the country." He was also a licensed pilot.

Death

Norris died on December 18, 2002, at

Fort Bragg, California Fort Bragg, officially the City of Fort Bragg, is a city along the Pacific Coast of California along Shoreline Highway in Mendocino County. The city is west of Willits, at an elevation of . Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 census. Fort ...

Filmography

References

External links

* 1911 births 2002 deaths American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Philadelphia People from Fort Bragg, California Culver Academies alumni {{US-film-actor-1910s-stub