Richard Norton, an Australian actor, stunt coordinator, and martial artist, has passed away. He was 75. Film fans almost certainly saw Norton in his 1980s and 1990s action movies, Norton is perhaps best known to modern audiences for his role in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Starring as The Prime Imperator in the two feature films wasn’t Norton’s only job on the blockbusters as he also worked as fight choreographer and fight coordinator for the two movies.
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Norton’s wife, Judy Green, confirmed the news of his passing on social media, writing: “I am numb and devastated, I have no words I have lost my everything. I know there is, and will be lots of love and shock that we have lost this incredible human being. The love ❤️ of my life. I’m using this time to come to terms with my great loss.”
In addition to his work on the two later Mad Max movies, Norton had an extensive filmography that included working as a fight choreographer on films like The Amazing Spider-Man, Suicide Squad, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and The Suicide Squad. After Norton’s death was confirmed, The Suicide Squad director James Gunn took to X (formerly Twitter) to pay tribute to Norton.
“Richard Norton was a wonderfully talented stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and actor. He was also a friend. I met Richard as the fight choreographer on The Suicide Squad; he choreographed the Harley escape scene, Peacemaker vs Rick Flag Jr. and more. He was a tough but sweet Australian dude with a hearty laugh and a million stories about his years making movies. I’d constantly grill him for tales about working on the 90’s Hong Kong movies we both loved so much, and he was always happy to oblige. Richard seemed twenty years younger than he was so I was particularly surprised to wake up this morning to hear of his passing. My love goes out to his entire family, all his friends and coworkers who adored him, and especially his wife Judy, who he always spoke of with even more gusto than when discussing exchanging onscreen blows with Jackie Chan. The film world will be a less vibrant place without him. Rest in Peace, friend. ❤️”
Norton’s other acting credits, which largely ranged in martial arts-centric movies, included the likes of Equalizer 2000, China O’Brien, plus the cult movie Gymkata. Norton also collaborated with martial artist and actor Chuck Norris on a number of projects too including the films The Octagon, Forced Vengeance, and multiple episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. He also worked with Jackie Chan on a handful of projects including Mr. Nice Guy and City Hunter.
