Norman Abbott
Biography
Norman Abbott was an American vaudeville performer, actor and television director. Born in New York City and raised partly by his uncle, the comedian Bud Abbott, he began performing in vaudeville and spent summers working the borscht circuit in the Catskills. Bud Abbott arranged an unbilled bit for him in Rio Rita (1942), and he and Pat Costello stood in for Abbott and Costello during Who Done It? (1942), in which he also played a pop-eyed radio organist. After Navy service in World War II, he became a dialogue director on the team's films under Charles T. Barton, then directed episodes of The Jack Benny Program, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, The Munsters, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dennis the Menace and Sanford and Son. He conceived the Broadway musical Sugar Babies but was fired as its director after two weeks of rehearsals. He died in 2016.
93years old at death
- Born New York City
- Died Valencia
- Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22
Movie Career
- Films
- 4
- Career span
- 0 years1942 to 1942
Every film, newest first
- 1942Grand Central MurderIMDb rating 6.5
- 1942Rio RitaIMDb rating 6.1
- 1942The Affairs of MarthaIMDb rating 6.6
- 1942Who Done It?IMDb rating 7.3
Genres
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A role that slipped away
Norman Abbott was brought in for Keep 'Em Slugging, the only film in which he starred, after Bernard Punsly departed Universal's Little Tough Guys series to serve in the armed forces.
A change of course
After the war, Abbott worked as a dialogue director on films starring Abbott and Costello, and Charles T. Barton, who directed that team, mentored him.
First role
Abbott began in entertainment as a vaudeville performer. His work included summers on the borscht circuit, at resorts in New York's Catskill Mountains.
Norman Abbott movies on Netflix
Most often with
S. Sylvan Simon directed two of these films. Five actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Lou Costello's page
Bud Abbott's page
Tom Conway's page
Barry Nelson's page
Patricia Dane's page
S. Sylvan SimonDirector, 2 films, 1942
All films by S. Sylvan Simon
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.