Actor Jim Norton has won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance In A Supporting Role for his portrayal of Richard Harkin in Conor McPherson's most recent play The Seafarer. Norton came out top of a tight category that also included Samantha Bond (Donkeys' Years), Deborah Findlay (The Cut), Mark Hadfield (Thérèse Raquin) and Colm Meaney (A Moon For The Misbegotten). The win was the first Laurence Olivier Award for stage veteran Norton.
In The Seafarer, which ran in the National's Cottesloe theatre from September 2006-January 2007, Norton played the blind Richard, whose brother returned home to look after him. Norton's performance as the dominant brother, controlling his sibling and using his disability to get his own way, caught the eyes of the Laurence Olivier Awards judges.
Speaking to officiallondontheatre after collecting his statuette, Norton said: "I’m in shock. It’s wonderful. It’s just an extraordinary play. We just finished the show in Bath, so I nearly didn’t make it today, British Rail being what they are, but I’m glad I made it! My Grandson, Joshua, who’s eight, asked me on the phone today if he can have my job when I retire; I’m going to go and call him now and tell him he’ll have to wait a while longer!”
Norton has worked extensively with the National Theatre during his career, appearing in The Pillowman (tour), Closing Time, Playboy Of The Western World, St Joan, Tamburlaine The Great and Hamlet, among others. Elsewhere his credits include The Weir (London and Broadway), for which Norton was nominated for the Best Actor Laurence Olivier Award, The Contractor, The Changing Room (Royal Court), Bedroom Farce (Prince Of Wales), The Wild Duck (Lyric Hammersmith) and, most recently, Shoot The Crow (Trafalgar Studio 1). To fans of television comedy, Norton is best known as Bishop Len Brennan from Father Ted.
Though The Seafarer finished its London run last month, you can still catch it on tour at the Cambridge Arts Centre (20-24 Feb), the Warwick Arts Centre (27 Feb-3 Mar), The Lowry (6-10 Mar) and Newcastle Theatre Royal (13-17 Mar).
MA
