Vale Richard Norton

Victor Kazan and Kevin Purcell, the writers of Castle Gillian: An Irish Tale have been devastated to learn of the passing of Richard Norton.  Kazan said, “I am greatly saddened by the passing of our very dear friend, Richard. He was a true gentleman and a beautiful human being.”

Aside from Richard’s luminary stunt career as both fight director and stuntman on innumerable A-list films, most notably in his early career with Jackie Chan, and in recent times working on films with Hollywood actors including, Liam Neeson, Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron, Will Smith and Ben Affleck and many others, Richard was also the Fight Director for Castle Gillian: An Irish Tale.

“I know. You ask why would the great Richard Norton work on a Musical – with a fight sequence?” said Purcell. “It came about like this: I have always hated fight scenes on stage whether in plays or musicals.  They always look wrong somehow.  So I asked Victor whether his great friend, Richard Norton, might consider helping us out and choreograph a fight that had the sheer, raw brutality the scene in the show was meant to convey.  Not expecting him to say ‘yes’, because the demands on his time in Hollywood were huge, he never hesitated and enthusiastically agreed to do it.”

The executive producers of Castle Gillian: An Irish Tale also tell the story about Richard’s collaboration in designing the fight sequence near the end of Act II. “Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, in one staging rehearsal being watched by our writers to establish the exact timing of the fight, Richard broke his nose in running the fight for them.  We all went deadly pale at the time, but Richard’s only comment was to laugh it off saying, “I’ve been doing stunts in movies for over 40 years without incident, and I get hurt in a musical!”  

Richard Norton was a prince amongst men.  His untimely passing has left an enormous hole in the hearts of everyone involved with Castle Gillian. Vale.

(April 2025)

Richard Norton (standing) with Clint Harris motion-capturing the fight sequence in Act II of Castle Gillian.

Photo ©Andrew Dobrowolksi