Richard Norton
Biography
Richard Norton was an Australian martial artist, actor and fight choreographer who became known for Hong Kong action films. Born in Croydon, a suburb of Melbourne, he began judo at eleven and earned a karate black belt at seventeen, later co-creating the hybrid self-defense art Zen Do Kai with Bob Jones. His first screen appearance came in the Chuck Norris film The Octagon (1980), and he went on to work on more than 80 feature films and television programs. In Hong Kong cinema he appeared in My Lucky Stars 2: Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985), City Hunter (1993) and Mr. Nice Guy (1997), often fighting stars such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Cynthia Rothrock. He also appeared in China O'Brien (1990) and Lady Dragon (1992). Later he worked as fight choreographer on The Condemned (2007), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and Suicide Squad (2016). He died in 2025.
75years old at death
- Born Croydon
- Died Melbourne
- Star sign: CapricornThe sign runs December 22 to January 19
Movie Career
- Films
- 28
- Career span
- 39 years1980 to 2019
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A change of course
Zen Do Kai, a hybrid self-defense martial art made for the security industry, was co-created by Norton together with Bob Jones, another karateka.
Early training
Norton cross-trained in several martial arts. His training included Brazilian jiu-jitsu with the Machado brothers, Chun Kuk Do with Chuck Norris, and Ukidokan Kickboxing with Pete Cunningham and Benny Urquidez.
Beyond film
Norton's characters often asked "Painful?" after landing a decisive blow. The funniest case came in Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars, where he faced Sammo Hung, and in Millionaire's Express, against Yasuaki Kurata.
Richard Norton movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Robert Clouse directed four of these films, Cirio H. Santiago three and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung two. Cynthia Rothrock appears in eight of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Cynthia Rothrock's page
Jackie Chan's page
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung's page
Henry Strzalkowski's page
Michael Dudikoff's page
Billy Blanks's page
All films by Robert Clouse
Cirio H. SantiagoDirector, 3 films, 1988 to 1992
All films by Cirio H. Santiago
Also three films together4 more actors
- Michael CavanaughBlack Thunder (1998), Strategic Command (1997) and Forced Vengeance (1982)
- Keith CookeChina O'Brien (1990), China O'Brien II (1990) and The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)
- Toshishiro ObataRage and Honor (1992), China O'Brien (1990) and China O'Brien II (1990)
- Tadashi YamashitaAmerican Ninja (1985), Gymkata (1985) and The Octagon (1980)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Richard Norton's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$79.8 million
8 of the 28 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 28 films: 8 worldwide figure; 5 never in cinemas; 15 figure not found.
- 8Worldwide figure
- 5Never in cinemas
- 15Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$19M23.8% of the total
- 2$19M23.6% of the total
- 3$15M18.3% of the total
- 4$10M13.2% of the total
- 5$6.7M8.3% of the total
- 6$5.7M7.2% of the total
- 7$3.7M4.6% of the total
- 8$882K1.1% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.