Barry Norton

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Barry Norton born Alfredo Carlos Birabén June 16 1905 August 24 1956 was an ArgentinianAmerican actor He appeared in over 90 films starting in silent films from 1925 until his death in 1956 He is perhaps best known for his role as Juan Harker in Universal Pictures Spanishlanguage version of Drácula in 1931 the English language role of Jonathan Harker originated by David Manners Arriving in Hollywood in the 1920s Norton first appeared as an extra in The Black Pirate 1926 but was soon cast in Fox Films The Lily that same year His big break came when he was given the role of Pvt Mothers Boy Lewisohn in What Price Glory which turned out to be a huge commercial success He landed substantial roles in Legion of the Condemned and 4 Devils both 1928 which were also very successful His acting was well received by audiences and critics at the time and during the silent era he avoided being typecast as a Latin lover One theater owner in Golden City Montana said Norton has as yet to show me a bad performance Theres a boy that is a natural In the early 1930s Norton could still get leading roles in major films Major Hollywood studios started producing alternatelanguage versions of their prestige productions and he became one of dozens of Latino actors needed Drácula was one of these films but Norton also appeared in Spanishlanguage versions of Paramount on Parade 1930 The Benson Murder Case 1930 and The Criminal Code 1931 In a few cases he appeared in both versions of a film Examples include Storm Over the Andes Spanish version Alas sobre El Chaco The Sea Fiend El diablo del Mar and Captain Calamity El capitan Tormenta the latter film reuniting him with Lupita Tovar his romantic interest from Dracula In addition to roles in Spanishterritory films he had roles in numerous major films usually playing sophisticated Europeans With the decline in Spanishlanguage film production in Los Angeles Nortons opportunities for leading roles became less and less frequent Though he had a pleasing voice his Argentine accent seemed incongruous with his appearance According to some sources he never mastered English very well In 1933 he secured what would be his last important role playing Jean Parkers Spanish fiancé in Frank Capras Lady for a Day 1933 Although he would continue to work for another 15 years Nortons last credited screen role would be Should Husbands Work 1939 For the rest of his career Norton continued to reside in Los Angeles and obtain small roles in films Many films he appeared in are now considered to be classics