Herbert Norville was born in London in 1957 and was educated at Kelmscott School, a comprehensive situated in Walthamstow, East London. Like his 'Special Offer' co-star Pauline Quirke he attended the Anna Scher youth theatre in Islington and it was this association that led to his casting in Beasts.
Norville made his television debut playing a boy in borstal for the Villains episode 'Smudger' (29th September 1972) though he really made an impact from 1975 onwards with a string of roles that focussed him in the eye of casting directors and the general public. The first of these roles was in the Play for Today episode 'Rumpole of the Bailey[1]' (16th December 1975) which starred Leo McKern as the titular lawyer. The play, the first play written by John Mortimer for the BBC since 1969, introduced the character of Rumpole to television audiences and was successful enough to merit a full blown television series, however not for the BBC but for ITV. The story saw Rumpole defending a young Jamaican boy, Ossie Gladstone, played by Norville, who is accused of a stabbing a pedestrian at a bus stop.
The year of 1976 would be particularly busy for the young actor starting with the Plays for Britain production 'Sunshine in Brixton' (20th April 1976) which also featured Pauline Quirke in the cast. Norville played the role of Montgomery, one the schoolboy friends of the main character Otis. As well as his appearance in Beasts as Mickey Norville could also be seen in an episode of the London Weekend Television sitcom The Fosters playing Fred in the episode 'The Windfall' (11th June 1976). He played the Sarsaparilla Man in the children’s film Bugsy Malone (1976), but it was his role in the film Pressure (1976) that really put him on the map. Pressure was the first British film directed by a black director, Horace Ove, and Norville featured as Tony, the British-born teenage son of an immigrant family from Trinidad, who finds himself torn between the two cultures. After leaving school with good grades Tony finds only racism and rejection when he tries to apply for jobs. He is faced with becoming involved with petty crime or his brother Colin’s growing involvement with Black Power politics. The film was financed by the British Film Institute in 1974, but was shelved for two years due to controversy around scenes of police brutality within the story, though it is now considered to be a culturally important British film. Norville was also starting to make an impact in the world of theatre as a cast member of Lucifer’s Fair, a play aimed at children aged eight or older, at the Arts Theatre in London.
Theatre work for 1978 began with a production of Penny Whistle at the Hampstead Theatre during January and a production of Nigel William’s Class Enemy at the Theatre Upstairs in London during March. For the Young Writers Festival on 18th May 1978, at the Royal Court Theatre, Norville appeared in the play The School Leaver written by the sixteen year old Michael McMillain. Both these plays examined the barriers and difficulties endured by black youths in schools and when looking for employment. During September and October 1978 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry he featured in the play Barbarians written by Barrie Keefe. The play charted the fortunes of three unemployed youths and was a sequence of three one-act plays – 'Killing Time', 'Abide with Me' and 'In the City. Abide with Me'. The third play was later produced as a BBC 2 drama though Norville was not cast. During December Norville could be seen in the role of Winston in the lunch time performances of The Graveyard Shift presented at the Soho Poly.
For the BBC Play of the Week production 'In England’s Green and Pleasant Land' (16th May 1979) Norville appeared as Rupert Joseph. Ronald Pickup played Reynolds, a convicted murderer who is moved to a new prison. Here he impresses the governor, chaplain and medical officer with his attempts to try and re-educate himself. Reynolds become friends with Rupert Joseph, an inarticulate young black Londoner who believes all white people are prejudiced against him. Reynolds is recommended for early release, but as the final review comes up an unexpected incident raises the possibility that his behaviour is too good to be true.
Norville’s theatre work continued to blossom with the role of a hospital orderly in Whose Life Is It Anyway? staged at the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast during May 1979. During August and September he was a cast member of the play Where Have You Been All Day presented by the Chichester Theatre Company at the Dolphin and Anchor studio theatre. The play, written by Roberta Elliott, looked at the situation of a young female teacher who is attacked by a black pupil. Norville played the offending youth.
Norville’s theatre work continued to blossom with the role of a hospital orderly in Whose Life Is It Anyway? staged at the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast during May 1979. During August and September he was a cast member of the play Where Have You Been All Day presented by the Chichester Theatre Company at the Dolphin and Anchor studio theatre. The play, written by Roberta Elliott, looked at the situation of a young female teacher who is attacked by a black pupil. Norville played the offending youth.
The role for which Norville is most remembered, and furnished his with a cult status, was as Toyne in the film version of Scum (1979) directed by Alan Clarke. One of the most shocking scenes in the film is the character Toyne’s suicide attempt. Norville later recalled that the tense scene did not go according to plan “We did it in about five takes in the association room as follows: Take 1 – The plastic bags[2] were so tight when I clenched my fist, they broke so we used condoms up my sleeve. Take 2 – The knife was so blunt that I couldn’t break the condom, so we had to get another knife. Take 3 – Went mad, threw my hands up in the air, condom flew out and stuck to the wall… everyone cracked up! Take 4 – Tried again; condom broke before action, costume got soaked! My jacket went from beige to green (we used red food colouring)! Take 5 – In the corridor, I jumped on the gate, and it swung back and forth as it was not locked! Getting dragged by Sands (John Judd) was real, the tie was strangling me…[3]” Norville’s other major screen for the year was in another Play for Today, playing Errol in the comedy drama 'Waterloo Sunset' (23rd January 1979). Recorded in November 1979, but not transmitted until nearly 18 months later, Ain’t Many Angels (30th June 1981) was a musical performed by the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington. Norville was a member of the cast, whilst his 'Special Offer' co-star, Pauline Quirke, introduced the work done by the stage school before the performance was televised.
Norville made only one appearance on the screen in 1980 playing the character Jackie in The Gentle Touch episode 'Shock' (2nd May 1980). He then had another Beasts cast reunion when he guest starred as Terry Andrews in two episodes of Angels (19th and 20th October 1981). Shirley Cheriton was a cast regular as Nurse Katy Smart. His only other role for the year was playing Solly in 'Fifth Week' (10th November 1981) an episode of Southern’s family drama series Going Out. Five Minute Films was a series of short films made by the BBC. Norville appeared as Arbley, a juvenile who has a meeting with his probation officer in 'Probation' (7th September 1982). The short was directed and written by Mike Leigh. Norville’s only other role for the year was a small part as a street wise kid in very first The Young Ones episode, 'Demolition' (9th November 1982). Norville started the following year with the role of Cousins in the Crown Court storyline 'A Black and White Case' (1st February 1983) before moving onto his final Play for Today role as Solo in the production 'Shall I Be Mother?' (19th April 1983). During March 1983 he was cast in Smoke, a production for Channel Four directed by Mike Leigh. The film would later be shown under a different title, Meantime (1984). Norville had a small supporting role credited simply as “man in the pub”.
He appeared in Central’s play R.H.I.N.O. : Really Here In Name Only (3rd July 1983) before moving onto a small role as a next door neighbour in the Jemima Shore Investigates episode 'A Promising Death' (3rd August 1983). These appearances signalled a decline in supporting lead or guest roles with Norville undertaking smaller roles such as a generically named “young black” in the Minder episode 'Rocky Eight and a Half' (11th January 1984). He was seen as Jonjo in the first two episodes of the glossy Lorimar mini-series Lace (26th and 27th February 1984). For the one-off comedy drama The Chain (1984) he appeared as Des and was Vince in the Big Deal episode 'Tuppence Coloured' (23rd September 1986). Theatre work for this period included a revival of Sweet Bird of Youth at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket during July 1985 and Smile Orange at the Phoenix Arts, Leicester during February and March 1986.
Screen roles for 1987 took in the part of 'Extra Extra' in the second episode of the comedy series Filthy, Rich and Catflap (14th January 1987) and Daytona Dave in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket (1987). Under the name of Herbie Norville he appeared as PFC Mason in made for television movie Freedom Fighter (11th January 1988). 1989 would see Norville complete his final screen appearances to date with his penultimate role being Johnson in The Bill episode 'Cock-Up' (16th February 1989). His final role was as Joe in the Screen Two production 'The Firm' (26th February 1989) directed by Alan Clarke who had helped establish Norville as a screen actor with the role of Toyne in Scum. In some ways this enabled Norville’s career to come full circle and was an apt role to bow out of acting with.
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