Norman Alden is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 character actor

Character actor

A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...

 who has performed in television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 programs and motion pictures since first appearing on The 20th Century Fox Hour

The 20th Century Fox Hour

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars...

in 1957

1957 in film

The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...

. He provided the voice of Kay in The Sword in the Stone

The Sword in the Stone (film)

The Sword in the Stone is a 1963 American animated fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney and originally released to theaters on December 25, 1963...

film in 1963 and received Oscar buzz for his role in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (film)

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a 1977 film based on the Joanne Greenberg novel of the same name.In the wake of the success of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Roger Corman was able to get funding for a movie version of Rose Garden. Bibi Andersson played Dr. Fried, while Kathleen Quinlan...

. His acting career began in 1957 and lasted nearly 50 years; he finally retired in 2006 at the age of 82.

Career

Alden was born in Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

. He served in the military during World War II and returned to Fort Worth to attend Texas Christian University (TCU)

Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...

 on the Montgomery GI Bill. Some of his acting ability was developed while at TCU with participation in the on-campus theater. He portrayed Coach Leroy Fedder in the 1970s television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is an American soap opera parody that aired in daily syndication from January 1976 to May 1977. The series was produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and starred Louise Lasser...

, Johnny Ringo in the 1955

1955 in film

The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....

 western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...

. He also voiced the ringmaster, Hank, on the animated television series, Devlin

Devlin (TV series)

Devlin is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera for ABC in 1974.-History:The series was inspired by the huge popularity of Evel Knievel and featured a stunt motorcyclist with a travelling circus, Ernie Devlin, and his siblings Tod and Sandy...

.

Other roles that he has portrayed include the AC Delco repairman, Lou the Mechanic for seven years in a series of ads, the Professor Frank Heflin in Electra Woman and Dyna Girl

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl is a Sid and Marty Krofft live action children's television series from 1976. The series lasted 16 weeks as part of the umbrella series The Krofft Supershow. During the second season, it was dropped along with Dr. Shrinker...

, both Aquaman

Aquaman

Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...

 and Green Arrow

Green Arrow

Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...

 in the animated TV franchise Super Friends

Super Friends

Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...

, and Major Truman Landon in Tora! Tora! Tora!

Tora! Tora! Tora!

is a 1970 American-Japanese war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the extent these facts were known at the time of production. The film was directed by Richard Fleischer and stars an all-star cast, including So Yamamura, E.G...

. He provided the voice of Kranix in the 1986 film Transformers: The Movie. He was in one episode of Dallas

Dallas (TV series)

Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

as Senator William Orloff the episode #3 Spy In The House Season 1 aka Mini Series. In Season 1 of The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

he played the part of Sheriff Lacey of Springville in the episode "Deputy Dukes"; he returned to the role in the second season episode "The Ghost of General Lee". He appeared as Lou Caruthers, the owner of the coffee shop in Back to the Future

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...

and the color-blind cameraman Bill in Ed Wood

Ed Wood (film)

Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...

. He could also be seen in the episode of Murder She Wrote "Keep The Homefries Burning" in 1986.

External links