William W. Norton American screenwriter (Gator, Brannigan), died from a heart attack he was , 85,

William Wallace "Bill" Norton, Jr. was an American screenwriter who wrote movies characterized by their action scenes, featuring such Hollywood stars as Angie Dickinson, Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds and John Wayne died from a  heart attack he was , 85,. Later in life, Norton would be convicted of gun running in France when he tried to send arms from the United States to aid Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. He later moved to Nicaragua after being released from prison and shot and killed an intruder in his Managua home then spent a year living in Cuba where he became disillusioned with Communism and was smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. by his ex-wife.

(September 24, 1925 – October 1, 2010)

Life

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Norton was born on September 24, 1925, in Ogden, Utah, where his parents owned a ranch which they lost during the Great Depression.^[1] His family moved to Berkeley, California and then El Monte. He attended El Monte High School, where he was class president.^[2] During World War II, Norton enlisted in the United States Army and served in Europe. He started writing, using his life experience of growing up poor and serving in the military, and some of his plays were produced by local theater companies. He joined the Communist Party in his youth and in 1958 was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, though he did not name anyone.^[1][2]
He wrote for the television series The Big Valley, which was broadcast from 1965 to 1968.^[3] His big screen breakthrough came with his script for the 1968 film The Scalphunters, set in the antebellum West, with the movie starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Shelley Winters. Other screenplays that Norton wrote included the Angie Dickinson vehicle Big Bad Mama directed by Roger Corman and the 1975 John Wayne detective film Brannigan. Films he wrote that starred Burt Reynolds included Sam Whiskey, White Lightning and Gator. When asked by a nurse the day before he died if she would know any of Norton's films, he replied "I don't think your I.Q. is low enough".^[1]
After moving to Ireland in the mid-1980s, Corman was angered by attacks staged against Roman Catholic residents of Northern Ireland. He flew back to the United States and purchased a number of guns to bring back to Ireland to supply the Irish National Liberation Army.^[2] When the van they shipped was found in Le Havre, France with two submachine guns, 12 rifles, 23 revolvers and thousands of rounds of ammunition, Norton and his wife were arrested and were both convicted.^[2] Sentenced to two years in prison, he was released after 19 months while his wife served five months before her release on medical grounds.^[3] Norton and his wife were subject to a U.S. warrant on the gun smuggling charges and were granted asylum in Nicaragua.^[2] After bandits broke into his house in Managua, he was able to find a gun and shot and killed one of the robbers.^[1]
He relocated to Cuba in the 1990s, but rapidly became disenchanted with life under Communism. He moved again, this time to Mexico, and sought the help of his daughter and his first wife to bring him back into the United States. He met his family members in Tijuana and they smuggled him back across the U.S. border. He settled in Santa Barbara, California, where he chose to paint as a hobby, but spent years worrying that the FBI would arrest him, until a lawyer convinced him that he had nothing to worry about.^[1] He wrote a script called Exiled in America based on his experiences, which was produced by Paul Leder.^[3]

Death

Norton died in Santa Barbara of a heart attack at the age of 85 on October 1, 2010. He was survived by his second wife, Eleanor, as well as by two daughters and a son, writer / director Bill L. Norton.^[3] He also had eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His first marriage, to the former Betty Conklin, had ended in divorce.^[1]

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