Tommy North

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Thomas Patrick Tommy Norden (born September 25, 1952 in New York City , NY ) is an American actor , best known for the TV series Flipper, which was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for NBC between 1964 and 1966 .

Career

First appearances

Born to Anna and Arthur Norden, a wealthy entrepreneurial family, Tommy was first seen on Broadway in his hometown of New York before his career-defining appearance in Flipper . He starred with Anthony Perkins in the comedy Greenwillow by Lesser Samuels (text) and Frank Loesser (music), which was shown from March to May 1960. The freckled and red-haired North impressed the critics with its "mischievous" charisma. It was followed by the show The Music Man (1960/61). In 1962 he was seen in a supporting role as Johnny in the film The Third Dimension ( Five Miles To Midnight ) on the side of Anthony Perkins and Sophia Loren . He also played as a guest actor in the crime series Gnadenlose Stadt ( Naked City ) as Paul Delito Jr., in one of the episodes together with his future pinball partner Luke Halpin . Several short appearances in series such as Route 66 (1963, episode 93), East Side / West Side (1964, episode 19) followed. The child star also sang on a TV music show ( Sing Along With Mitch , 1963).

Pinball series

In the series Flipper , which was mainly filmed in the Seaquarium in Miami , Norden played the smaller of the two sons (" Bud ") of Coral Key Ranger Porter Ricks, played by Brian Kelly . In addition to Luke Halpin as Sandy, he was the friend of the clever dolphin, who repeatedly experiences all kinds of educational adventures. Originally the producers had considered replacing Halpin, who was already growing up, with a younger child, but as the dolphins got used to the actor, it was decided to bring a second boy onto the series. For legal reasons, he had to be from New York State. The first choice fell on Marcus Niemöller, whose mother, Sibylle Sarah Niemöller, née Baroness von Sell, however, did not want to let her son go to Florida to film. According to Niemoller, the north mother was less worried. Anna Norden (October 27, 1918 - February 11, 2000) had worked as a stewardess at Pan American World Airways , founded the airline Seaboard & Western with her husband Arthur and his brother Raymond in New York in 1946 and then took on the management of their seven children concentrated, several of whom gained experience in show business. Looking back, Tommy Norden commented on his work on the set of Flipper that it was so much fun that he would have shot "for free". In fact, he made between $ 600 and $ 850 per episode.

Later years

From 1971 to 1973, Norden was Dr. Gary Walton featured in Search for Tomorrow , a series that made headlines with particularly poor audience ratings. With episode 8 of the "superhero" series The Secrets of Isis as "Joe" ended his TV career in 1975, in which he also appeared in TV spots ( New York Airways , Oreo ). According to his own statement, from then on he lacked any enthusiasm to continue standing in front of the camera: "When my agent called, I told him, yes, I will be there, but did not show me." That lack of enthusiasm, said Norden in an interview with People in 1985 , was mutual. There were not "millions" of appropriate roles for him, which is why he decided to make his living as a businessman. He joined two of the family's business areas, from 1978 worked as a personnel consultant for top-class IT specialists and bred horses on a farm in the rural part of New York State. He finally moved to Miami, where he was one of the star guests at Seaquarium for the 40th and 50th anniversary of the pinball series . He currently lives on Long Hill Farm in the small town of Callicoon, New York.

Filmography

  • 1961: Naked City ( Naked City - Take Off Your Hat When a Funeral passport ) (1 episode)
  • 1962: The third dimension ( Le Couteau dans la plaie )
  • 1964: East Side / West Side - The Street (1 episode)
  • 1964-1965: Flipper
  • 1971-1973: Search for Tomorrow
  • 1975: Isis / The Secret of Isis - How to Find a Friend (1 episode)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New York Theater Critics Review , Vol. 21/1960, p. 326
  2. ^ Sybil von Sell: Crowns, Crosses, and Stars: My Youth in Prussia, Surviving Hitler, and a Life Beyond , Purdue University Press 2012, p. 250
  3. ^ Obituary in Sullivan County Democrat, February 11, 2000 [1]. Retrieved May 19, 2020
  4. ↑ People , March 4, 1985: Where Are They Now? [2] accessed on May 19, 2020
  5. ↑ Daily News : Flipper Pal Asked to Stay in Swim , December 14, 1965, p. 110 [3] accessed on May 19, 2020
  6. ↑ People , March 4, 1985: Where Are They Now? [4] accessed on May 19, 2020
  7. ↑ Miami Herald , September 13, 2019 Before the football team, a Miami dolphin got its own TV show. The star was Flipper [5]. Retrieved May 19, 2020
personal data
SURNAME North, tommy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , NY