Bill L. Norton

Bill L. Norton is an American film director, writer and producer. Among many projects, he is the writer-director of Cisco Pike and More American Graffiti.

Career

Norton is most notable as a film director, including his first feature film, Cisco Pike in 1972, which he also wrote.[1][2][3] He worked as a screenwriter in the 1970s and '80s, writing the scripts for Convoy and Outlaw Blues, among other films.[4]

He also has directed many television series, among them Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, John Doe, Hack, Las Vegas, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lincoln Heights and Roswell.

He is the son of screenwriter William W. Norton, who was convicted in 1986 of importing arms to Northern Ireland for the IRA and the INLA.[5]

Sometimes he is credited as B.W.L. Norton, Bill Norton or William Lloyd Norton.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Director	Writer
1964	How to Succeed with Girls	No	Yes
1972	Cisco Pike	Yes	Yes
1977	Outlaw Blues	No	Yes
1978	Convoy	No	Yes
1979	More American Graffiti	Yes	Yes
1983	Losin' It	No	Yes
1985	Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend	Yes	No
1987	Back to the Beach	No	Story
	Three for the Road	Yes	No

Other credits

Year	Title	Role
1965	Girl Happy	Uncredited camera operator
1966	The Chase
	The Fortune Cookie
1973	Messiah of Evil	Actor

Television

As Director

Title	Year(s)	Episode	Notes
Gargoyles	1972	—	TV movie
The Twilight Zone	1985-1986	"Teacher's Aide"
		''Monsters!"
Tour of Duty	1987-1989	''Pilot''	Also co-executive producer
		''Notes from the Underground''	Also writer & co-executive producer
		''Brothers, Fathers, and Sons''
		''Battling Baker Brothers''
		''Pushin' Too Hard''	Also co-executive producer
		''Soldiers''
		''Angel of Mercy''
		''Saigon: Part 1''
		''Saigon: Part 2"
		''Popular Forces''
Grand Slam	1990	''Grand Slam''
		''Chop Shop''
Angel of Death		—	TV movies
False Arrest	1991	—
The Boys of Twilight	1992	"A Bend in the River"
Crossroads		Unknown episodes
Seaquest DSV	1993	''Brothers and Sisters''
		''Give Me Liberte''
Hercules: The Legendary	1994	''Hercules and the Amazon Women''
		''Hercules in the Underworld''
The Women of Spring Break	1995	—	TV movies
Deadly Whispers		—
Stolen Innocence		—
Gone in the Night	1996	—
Them		—
Vows of Deception		—
A Deadly Vision	1997	—
Our Mother's Murder		—
Bad to the Bone		—
Every Mother's Worst Fear	1998	—
Thirst		—
Vengeance Unlimited	1998-1999	''Justice''
		''Legalese''
Sons of Thunder	1999	''Moment of Truth''
A Crime of Passion		—	TV movie
Profiler	2000	''Quid Pro Quo''
		''Pianissimo''
The Fugitive		''Sanctuary''
Roswell	2000-2001	''The End of the World''
		''Control''
FreakyLinks	2001	''Subject: Sunrise at Sunset Streams''
The Invisible Man		''Going Postal''
		''Den of Thieves''
		''Flash to Bang''
Angel	2001-2003	''Happy Anniversary''
		''That Vision Thing''
		''Provider''
		''Supersymmetry''
		''Calvary''
		''Life of the Party''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer	2002	''Two to Go''
Pasadena		''Someone to Talk To''
Haunted		''Last Call''
John Doe		''Past Imperfect''
Hack	2003	''Sinners and Saints''
The Guardian	2004	''Amends''
		''Remember''
Medium	2005	''Coded''
		''A Priest, a Doctor and a Medium Walk Into an Execution Chamber''
Threshold		''Pulse''
Ghost Whisperer		''Hope and Mercy''
Law & Order: Criminal Intent	2005-2006	''Ex Stasis''
		''Slither''
		''Country Crossover''
The Unit	2006-2009	''Unannounced''
		''Silver Star''
		''Two Coins''
		''Inside Out''
		''Bad Beat''
Heartland	2007	''Picking Up Little Things''
Lincoln Heights	2007-2009	''Missing''
		''The Old Man and the G''
		''Ode to Joy''
		''Persons of Interest''
Las Vegas	2008	''Three Weddings and a Funeral: Part 1''
Generation Gap		—	TV movie

As Producer only

Title	Year(s)	Episode	Notes
Tour of Duty	1987-1988	''Dislocations''	Co-executive producer
		''War Lover''
		''Sitting Ducks''
		''Burn Baby, Burn''
		''The Good, the Bad, and the Dead''
		''Nowhere to Run''
		''Roadrunner''
		''USO Down''
		''Under Siege''
		''Gray-Brown Odyssey''
		''Blood Brothers''
		''The Short Timer''
		''Paradise Lost''
		''The Hill''
Grand Slam	1990	''Who's Crazy?''	Executive producer

Video Game

• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2005, director)

References

1. Canby, Vincent (1972-01-15). "' Cisco Pike':Tale of Has-Been Rock Star Opens at Forum". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
2. "The Celluloid Time Capsule". Los Angeles Times. 2006-05-28. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
3. Horwath, Alexander; Elsaesser, Thomas; King, Noel (2004). The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-5356-631-2.
4. Taylor, Tadhg (October 27, 2015). Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations with Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. McFarland. ISBN 9781476620985 – via Google Books.
5. Woo, Elaine (October 10, 2010). "William W. 'Bill' Norton dies at 85; screenwriter became gunrunner". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved September 17, 2017.

External links

• Bill L. Norton at IMDb