Biography for
Barry Norman (II) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 August 1933, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Barry Leslie Norman

Height

6' (1.83 m)

Spouse

Diana Narracott

(1957 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Son of director/producer Leslie Norman.

Awarded CBE for services to broadcasting.

One-time writer of "Flook" strip cartoon in 'The Daily Mail'.

The best known film critic in Britain for over 25 years until he was replaced by Jonathan Ross as host of the BBC series "Film '72" (1972).

He is a staunch supporter of the British monarchy over the possibility of a republican alternative. He once stated a reason for this was that he would have hated to have seen President Thatcher.

Cricket fan

Father of Samantha Norman and Emma Norman.

He was a supporter of the British Labour Party until the formation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981. The SDP later merged with the Liberal Party to become the Liberal Democrats.

His top ten films of all time are: Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925), Bringing Up Baby (1938), La règle du jeu (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), Rashômon (1950), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Searchers (1956), Paths of Glory (1957), Det sjunde inseglet (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959).

He considers Shivers (1975) to be the worst film he has ever seen.

Personal Quotes

[speaking in 2004] I believe the best films today are as good as, and technically far better than, any that have gone before, but generally speaking it's no good looking to Hollywood for such films, because it does not want the new and daring but the tried and trusted - revamped versions of what has proved popular before and might therefore appeal to a current, younger audience that never saw the originals.

Schwarzenegger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is not an actor, he's a human special effect.

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