William Norton, 1925–201

last updated 8 January 2015

William Norton was a successful Hollywood screenwriter, from the low-budget horror flick I Dismember Mama (1972) to The Scalphunters (1968), a Western-comedy starring Burt Lancaster. But in 1985, the committed leftist decided it was time to get serious. He abandoned his career and began procuring guns for Central American rebel groups. “He really was like one of his movie characters, an outlaw on the run,” said his son, Bill Norton.

Norton was born in Ogden, Utah, but his ranching family moved to California after losing their land in the Depression, said the Los Angeles Times. After fighting in World War II, he worked in construction out of pride in his “working-class roots.” An active Communist Party member, in 1958 Norton “refused to name names” before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Norton gained success with The Scalphunters, a buddy picture in which a white fur trapper and “an erudite runaway slave” bond, said The New York Times. The film reflected Norton’s preoccupation with social justice—“the motivating factor in Mr. Norton’s offscreen adventures as well.” After leaving Hollywood, Norton moved with his wife, Eleanor, to Northern Ireland, where he ran guns for an IRA splinter group. He was arrested in France with a shipment of guns, and served two years in prison. The couple moved to Nicaragua after his release, and later to Cuba, where he grew “disillusioned with socialism.”