Edward Norton was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1969. Though he was born in New England, he actually grew up in Columbia, Maryland, a suburb between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. He has two siblings - Molly and James. After he graduated from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, he attended Yale University, where he did some plays here and there, but eventually graduated from Yale in 1991 with a degree in history. (I have read that he had minored in Japanese - which is very possible considering he can speak fluent Japanese.) Following college, he worked briefly in the Osaka, Japan branch of The Enterprise Foundation, which assists in the building and design of low-income housing all around the world. The Foundation was founded by Edward's grandfather, the late James Rouse (who also designed the city of Columbia that Edward grew up in).
Eventually though, acting was in his blood ever since the first time he saw a play. His babysitter, Betsy True (who played Cossette in the Broadway play "Les Miserables") brought him to see the play "If I Were a Princess" when he was only 5. Soon after, he tried out for various local playhouses, and became a child-actor mainstay of Toby's Dinner Theatre just outside of Baltimore. Though he took many theatre-related classes while at Yale, Edward seemed destined to live a life far and away from acting - at a more conventional desk job. After working in Japan for less than a year, he abandoned his position and moved to New York City, working as a proofreader and a waiter, while auditioning for off-off-Broadway plays. (Edward still lives in New York.) His big break into theater was in 1994, when he was cast as the lead in Edward Albee's "Fragments." His acting ability impressed Albee so much that he was invited to become a board member of the Signature Theater Company, and he is still active with this organization.
He made his film debut in 1996 (released) as the tortured Aaron Stampler in "Primal Fear," in a supporting role, with Richard Gere and Laura Linney. (This eventually led to a Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the movie. He didn't win the Oscar - but he did win the Golden Globe counterpart.) Those involved with the movie were frantic to find a replacement for Leonardo DiCaprio, who initially had the role of Aaron. Out of 2,100 auditioners, Edward was considered for the role by lying to the casting directors that he was from the Appalachians in Kentucky, where Aaron's character was supposed to be from. It turns out that Edward did his homework, practicing the Kentucky accent prior to the audition to get it just right, and it paid off. Word got around that there was a hot new commodity in the acting world - and pretty soon he was also cast as Holden Spence in Woody Allen's homage to musicals, "Everyone Says I Love You" (released 1998) opposite Drew Barrymore. Also, he was called in to try out for the role of Alan Isaacman, a fictitious lawyer amalgamation of various lawyers of Larry Flynt, in "The People Vs. Larry Flynt." In that film, he was lucky to work with director Milos Forman, who later figured in as an elder priest in Edward's directorial debut, "Keeping the Faith."
Edward Norton's movie career:
- Primal Fear (1996) - as choir boy Aaron Stampler, accused of killing a priest
- Everybody Says I Love You (1996 - released 1998) - as Holden Spence, Drew Barrymore's fiance
- The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996) - as the Flynts' lawyer, Alan Isaacman
- American History X (1998) - as reformed skinhead leader Derek Vinyard, opposite Edward Furlong
- Rounders (1998) - as the shady, card-playing Lester "Worm" Murphy, opposite Matt Damon
- Fight Club (1999) - as the unnamed narrator, opposite Brad Pitt
- Keeping the Faith (2000) - as Father Brian Finn, a Catholic priest, opposite Ben Stiller; also as director and producer
For those of you interested in Edward Norton's personal life, since he's so wary of giving out anything of the sort, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I had heard that he had officially announced his engagement to Wild, Wild West actress Salma Hayek at this year's Oscars. However, in other articles, you may read that Edward denies all rumors of such engagement. Whether or not he is saying all this for privacy's sake, one can never be too sure. Either way - I am happy with whatever makes him happy - and I am constantly amazed how easily he is able to shrug off reporters' questions when it gets a little close to him, and is incredibly humble although the critics want to call him "the greatest actor in Hollywood today." Despite the accolades and praise, he remains one of the most down-to-earth celebrities in show business.
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