Scotland At The Movies

18 March 2009, 17:24

Alexander Hugh "Alex" Norton

Place Of Birth: Glasgow
Date Of Birth: 27th January 1950
Lives: Stoke Newington ('Stokey')
Status: Married to Sally. 3 sons, Jock, Rory and Jamie.

Best known as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart, Alex Norton was born and brought up in Glasgow. He's a son of a plumber and a fervent unionist. He discovered acting at the age of 14 via an out of school drama group. This led, via a stint with the notorious left-wing theatre group 7:84, to a part in the TV series Dr Finlay's Casebook and with it the decision that acting was what he wanted to concentrate on.  Because of his background and his father's lack of approval of his chosen career, Alex avoided the traditional route into acting and instead worked from part to part, something which he says has really paid off for him.

Apart from Bill Forsyth's Gregory's Girl and Comfort and Joy, he has a raft of other film credits including  Little Voice, Orphans and Hollywood blockbusters such as Patriot Games with Harrison Ford. He recently played Captain Bellamy in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and had a small role in Mel Gibson's Braveheart.

He also directs and writes, for which he has two awards. And he fronted the stv crime show Unsolved  which looked at a number of unsolved cases in Scotland, one of which later came to be resovled as a direct result of the programme.

He's at home in London and Glasgow, but his spiritual home is now in the French medieval village of Olargues which nestles in the mountains with a river running by.  Having fallen in love with the village, the family could only find one house for sale, but they knew it was the right one for them. Needing complete restoration it will become the family's dream holiday destination and a place they can escape to whenever possible.

Last updated: 20 March 2009, 14:36