Dean Norris

Dean Norris: biography

Dean Norris is a popular American actor famous for his role of the DEA agent Hank Schrader in the crime drama series Breaking Bad. This part became starry for the artist and multiplied the number of his fans all over the world.

Childhood and youth

The future actor was born in South Bend, Indiana, in spring 1963. The parents were incredibly happy when the fifth child was a boy; Dean had four elder sisters.

The family had nothing to do with the arts. The father owned a furniture shop, and the mother kept the house and brought up the kids. It was not an easy task to look after five fidgeting babies. When the boy was playing soccer with his sisters, he went to the road where the ball rolled and was hit by a police car. As a result, little Dean was injured and got a limp for the rest of his life.

Movie makers saw the physical defect as a part of Norris’s characters in the series Breaking Bad and the thriller The Firm; the audience did not even understand that the limping was real.

When the young man decided to become an actor is unknown. In the mid-1980s, as long as Norris graduated from school, he entered Harvard College and chose social studies as a major. Besides, Dean went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where Joan Collins, Robert Atkins, and Timothy Dalton used to study; perhaps, the desire to perform on the stage strengthened at that period.

Movies

The artist debuted in the American series Beyond Our Control (1981), but it did not make him famous. Four years later, he gained a more significant part of Peter Brockway in the British project Blind Alleys.

The artist continued to develop his career in his home country. 1987 brought the premiere of the action The Equalizer, and Norris has been playing continually ever since; his filmography was growing every year. In 1989, the audience saw the man in three projects while the next year brought seven. Paul Verhoeven’s fantasy action Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger was the most notable among them. It won many prizes and nominations, grossing $260 million. Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin co-starred in the movie as well; Dean had the secondary, yet bright role of Tony.

The next year, Norris met Schwarzenegger again at the movie set of James Cameron’s iconic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Dean played a SWAT team leader; he also personified Nelson in the 2008 movie Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

In the 1990s, people were also excited about the fantastic series The Pretender and the action The Negotiator; the actor took the roles of a sheriff and a police officer taken hostage there. At the same period, Dean appeared on the screen as a comedian and participated in the series Married... with Children. The project had eight Emmy nominations and seven nominations for the Golden Globe.

The second half of the 1990s was particularly successful. Norris appeared in the hits Gattaca, Starship Troopers, and the legal series The Practice. The decade finished with the horror dramedy Charmed; viewers loved it so much that the project lasted for eight seasons.

In the 2000s, Dean Norris also found his place on the screen. One could see him in the black comedy Six Feet Under and James Wong’s The One. The latter project gave the artist the opportunity to collaborate with Jet Li and Jason Statham. Despite the starry cast, the picture was severely criticized.

In 2008, Dean joined the super popular series Breaking Bad; the mysterious robinsonade Lost followed the next year and brought its creators Emmy and the Golden Globe Awards. Six seasons were broadcast.

Although the actor has had few lead roles, all his secondary characters are masterpieces. Movie makers and critics appreciated his works in the series Lie to Me, Castle, and The Mentalist.

In 2016, fans saw their favorite in the tenth and eleventh seasons of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory; he played Colonel Richard Williams and grabbed the audience’s attention. The collaboration with top stars, like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, and Mel Gibson, does not make the man pale on the screen: he emphasizes their talent.

Personal life

Dean Norris does not like to talk about personal life with journalists. In 2001, he married a lawyer Bridget; they have five children together.

The family lives in a suburban area of Los Angeles; only close friends visit them there. The actor posts family photos on his Instagram page sometimes. Norris likes sports; he is an easy-going person with a great sense of humor.

Present days

March 2018 brought the premiere of Eli Roth’s crime action Death Wish. Dean co-starred with Bruce Willis there. As the story runs, the wife of Willis’s character dies, and his daughter is on the edge between life and death after a robbery. Detective Kevin Raines (Dean Norris) is going to investigate the case.

In 2019, fans welcomed two new thriller actions. Norris participated in the first season of the series The Act with Patricia Arquette, Joey King, and Chloë Sevigny. It is the story about the dramatic family relationships leading to a horrible murder.

Another movie, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, was premiered in August. The screen version of Alvin Schwartz’s horror trilogy portrays the teenagers trying to solve the mysterious deaths that keep the whole area scared.

Dean Norris’s net worth is $5 million in 2019.

Filmography

• 1987 — The Equalizer
• 1989 — Lethal Weapon 2
• 1990 — Total Recall
• 1991 — Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• 1993 — The Firm
• 1995 — The X-Files
• 1997 — Starship Troopers
• 1998 — The Negotiator
• 1999 — Charmed
• 2001 — The One
• 2006 — Cold Case
• 2008-2013 — Breaking Bad
• 2009 — Lost
• 2011 — Castle
• 2016 — The Big Bang Theory
• 2018 — Death Wish
• 2019 — The Act
• 2019 — Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark