Norman Lloyd is one of the oldest actors alive, and has seen grands such as Alfred Hitchcock rise to fame through his own eyes. He was born on November 8th, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and will soon celebrate his 96th birthday.
After Norman was born, his family moved to Manhattan, New York, and later to Brooklyn. Norman's father was the owner of a furniture store; his mother was a housewife. A former tennis prodigy, Norman has played the game from the age of eight. His mother wanted Norman to be a "children star", so she sent Norman to prestigious acting lessons. Norman became interested in acting during his high school years in New York City.
Lloyd first appeared on various plays in off-Broadway theaters; he recalls the play Noah the best, which featured Pierre Renoir (not the painter), a famous French actor. He also appeared on Broadway plays. He then became involved with the Mercury Theater. Later on, Lloyd eventually got to know Alfred Hitchcock, and made his Hollywood debut in 1942, to play a Nazi spy in Hitchcock's Sabouteur. Lloyd grew closer to Hitchcock in the later years, and played numerous villain roles in Hitchcock's latter movies, such as Spellbound. He also worked for other directors, such as Lewis Milestone and Charly Chaplin in films such as Arch of Triumph (1948), and Limelight (1952).
He was subjected to Hollywood blacklisting--the Hollywood blacklist was a blacklist of actors and directors who allegedly had connections to the American Communist Party; a blacklist created during the years of McCarthyism. However, Lloyd came back to the publishing business and became a director and a producer. He first directed the television series The Adventures of Kit Carson. The show first aired in 1951, and after it was canceled, he became a producer and director for the 1958 started TV show Alfred Hitchcock 1958. In the 60s and 70s, Lloyd further expanded as a producer, and starred an occasional role here and there, for example, Lloyd appeared on an episode of Twilight Zone, Wisegy, Star Trek, and others.
In 1982, Lloyd performed a prominent role on television, as he played Dr. Auschlander in St. Elsewhere, a role he acted for six years. He also appeared on numerous radio plays, and performed in Seven Days, a television sci-fi drama for three years (1998-2001). A documentary about him, titled Who is Norman Lloyd, was released in 2007 and first appeared in the Sun Dance festival on September 1st of the same year. His most recent role comes from the 2005 comedy In Her Shoes.
Norman Lloyd, apart from his works with the old jacks of Hollywood, has worked with younger famous actors and directors, such as Martin Scorsese and Cameron Diaz. Although Lloyd's career was resuscitated solely by Hitchcock, Lloyd was with no doubt a talented actor, and his charming, secretive and villainous acting had a huge impact on the later "bad-guy" actors. His film career was quite influential, but Norman is best remembered for his charismatic appeal on series such as he also acted on such series as The Paper Chase; Murder, She Wrote; Wings, and numerous other.
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