Richard Norton (actor)

Richard Norton (6 January 1950 – 29 March 2025) was an Australian martial artist, actor, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, security consultant, and fight choreographer. He held a 5th dan black belt in Gōjū-ryū karate, a 6th dan black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, an 8th dan black belt in Chun Kuk Do, and a level 6 ranking in American kickboxing. After high school, Norton worked as a bodyguard in the entertainment business before pursuing an acting career.
Norton appeared as a bodyguard in the 1977 ABBA movie, as they toured his native country, Australia. He had a very minor speaking part.
His first movie screen appearance was in the 1980 Chuck Norris film The Octagon, and he worked on over 80 feature films and television programs. He appeared in a number of martial arts films, facing off against stars such as Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Benny Urquidez, Don Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock, and worked as fight choreographer for titles like The Condemned (2007), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Suicide Squad (2016), Dark Phoenix (2019) and The Suicide Squad (2021).
With fellow karateka Bob Jones, Norton was the co-creator of Zen Do Kai, a hybrid self-defence martial art intended for the security industry. He was also the head of Richard Norton BJJ.
Norton was born in the Croydon suburb of Melbourne, Australia on 6 January 1950. He began studying Judo at the age of 11, and later took up Gōjū-ryū karate, earning his black belt at the age of 17. In 1970, he was hired by Bob Jones as the chief instructor for his Melbourne dojo, which later developed into Zen Do Kai, while also working as a security guard.
He cross-trained in various arts including Brazilian jiu-jitsu (under the Machado brothers), Chun Kuk Do (under Chuck Norris) and Ukidokan Kickboxing (under Pete Cunningham and Benny Urquidez), as well as Aikido, Judo, Muay Thai and Kobudo.
He trained with Tino Ceberano, Tadashi Yamashita, Fumio Demura, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Jean-Jacques Machado and Chuck Norris.
Norton entered the entertainment industry as a personal bodyguard for The Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Bowie, ABBA, John Belushi, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks.
Norton was on the cover (as well as featured in editorials) of martial arts magazines including Black Belt twice (published since 1987), Australasian Fighting Arts in 1983 (published 1974 to 1998), Blitz Magazine, Impact (published 1992 to 2010) with Cynthia Rothrock in 1993, and with Jackie Chan in 1997, Inside Kung Fu, MA Training (published 1988 to 2000), Martial Arts & Combat Sports (published 1999 to 2002), and Martial Arts & Combat Sports. In 2014 Norton was inducted into the Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
He also was the Head Instructor of the Richard Norton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu organisation.
Norton was known for his appearances in Hong Kong action films. His Hong Kong credits include The Magic Crystal, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, City Hunter (a live-action remake of the manga), Millionaire's Express, and Mr. Nice Guy. A signature catchphrase of Norton's characters is "Painful?", usually asked after striking a decisive blow. The most comical example is in Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars, where he faces Sammo Hung and in the movie Millionaire's Express against Yasuaki Kurata.
Norton became the fight coordinator on Walker, Texas Ranger in 1993. He was a minor (sometimes uncredited) character in several episodes (at least eight), and had a starring role as villainous businessman Frank Scanlon in The Avenging Angel; he was in the two-part finale The Final Show/Down as Jonas Graves, part of Emile Lavocat's (Marshall R. Teague) criminal gang (he also appears in the "flashback" scenes illustrating the end of the Hayes Cooper legend, as part of Mills "Moon" Lavocat's (also Marshall R. Teague) desperado gang).
Over his career, Norton faced off with many top martial arts action stars, including Jackie Chan (in three films, including City Hunter), Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Benny "the Jet" Urquidez (in Kick Fighter), Don "The Dragon" Wilson (in CyberTracker), and Cynthia Rothrock (in China O'Brien and Lady Dragon). Fighting Stars Magazine ranked Norton's climactic fight with Chuck Norris in The Octagon (1980) as #13 on its list of the 25 greatest fight scenes of all time.
Norton served as fight coordinator on the 2007 film The Condemned (starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Vinnie Jones), doubling for Jones. He also starred in a contemporary drama, Under the Red Moon.
In August 2010, Norton appeared at Berlin Movie Con, a convention of martial arts where he was joined by ten other stars of Martial arts cinema in a two-day show. It was staged in the Universal Hall in Berlin, Germany. Among his fellow stars were Cynthia Rothrock, Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Conan Lee.
Norton had trained in many aspects of martial arts, including Judo, Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido, Thai boxing and several Japanese weapons systems. He used this experience to co-create the hybrid martial art Zen Do Kai with fellow security guard Bob Jones. He had a 5th-Degree Shihan rank Black Belt in Goju Ryu, 8th-Degree Masters rank in Chun Kuk Do (Chuck Norris system), 6th-Degree Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a 10th-degree Black Belt in Zen Do Kai Karate, an organisation of over 5,000 members. He trained with Tino Ceberano, Tadashi Yamashita, Fumio Demura, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Pete "Sugar Foot" Cunningham, Jean-Jacques Machado and Chuck Norris.
Norton held seminars covering such topics as street defence, martial arts weapons drills, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts. In September 2007, Norton released a two-disc DVD set on Black Belt Digital Video called Black Belt training Complexes. The DVDs show Norton executing fast and accurate examples of his skill, and some additional seminar footage is also included. They focus on the development of speed, power and continuity of movement, with explanations of the principles.
Richard Norton was married to Australian actor Judy Green in 1993.
On 29 March 2025, Australian actor, and wife of Richard Norton, Judy Green announced in a social media post that Norton had died in Melbourne.