Film star Zack Norman has died aged 83-Josie Copson-Entertainment – Metro

Zack Norman starred in Romancing The Stone (Picture: Getty)

Zack Norman has died aged 83.

Throughout his long career that spanned six decades, the actor appeared in films including Romancing The Stone, Cadillac Man, and TV series The Nanny, The A-Team, and Baywatch.

His son-in-law Jeff Briller confirmed the news that Norman had died from natural causes on April 28 to Deadline.

Boston-born Norman received an executive MBA from Harvard Business School before becoming a comedian in the 1960s. He performed comedy at Playboy clubs, and in prestigious venues in America such as The Flamingo in Las Vegas and Copacabana in New York.

He also traded in real estate after struggling to get paid work. ‘I became a very rich guy in a couple of years,’ he told the New York Times. Norman returned to show business after feeling miserable. ‘I now knew a lot about things such as tax shelters and depreciation, I was able to start financing movies,’ he added.

His TV debut came in 1969 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where Norman, real name Howard Jerrold Zuker, performed stand-up.

With his acquired knowledge of finances, he helped fund films including Hearts and Minds (1974), which won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Norman in Romancing the Stone (Picture: 20th Century Fox)

He starred in celebrated films, Ragtime in 1981 and Romancing the Stone in 1984, which also stars Danny DeVito and Michael Douglas.

The action-adventure romantic comedy earned over $115 million worldwide at the box office. Norman played a criminal called Ira, who helps kidnap romance novelist Joan Wilder’s (Kathleen Turner) sister.

His character, who had an affinity for crocodiles said: ‘Look at those snappers!’ – a line that is often quoted.

He continued to star in films for the next four decades and began to also sit in the producer’s chair. Norman co-directed and starred in Chief Zabu, which was released in 2016, 30 years after work began on it, and worked with filmmaker Henry Jaglom on multiple films including Festival in Cannes (2001), Hollywood Dreams (2006) and Ovation (2015). Another notable movie was Cadillac Man (1990) which featured the late Robin Williams. Norman appeared in over 20 stage plays.

Jaglom and Norman were regular collaborators (Picture: Revere/Rainbow Film/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

On top of his work in the entertainment industry, Norman was an avid art collector, who sold a piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2017 for $110.5 million. It was a record price for an American artist at auction.

Norman resided in California before his death. He died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

He is survived by his wife Nancy, children Lori, Tracy, Stephen and Michael, and 14 grandchildren.

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