--- name: "Norman Lloyd" canonical: "https://film.one/person/norman-lloyd" roles: ["Actor","Director"] born: "8 November 1914" died: "10 May 2021" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 83 updated: "2026-09-16T17:56:16.229486+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Norman Lloyd Actor and director. Born 8 November 1914 in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA. Died 10 May 2021. ## Details - **Work:** Actor, Director - **Born:** 8 November 1914, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA - **Died:** 10 May 2021 - **Active:** 1971–1989 - **Also known as:** Norman Nathan Lloyd, Norman Perlmutter, Norman Nathan Perlmutter - **Works often with:** Leo Penn ## Fi1m on Norman Lloyd > Norman Lloyd’s refined voice made officious men sound certain of their right to be obeyed. We value the conviction he brought to supporting parts, though his work as a director should not be lost behind the acting credits. In *Dead Poets Society* (1989), Norman Lloyd’s headmaster, Mr. Nolan, speaks with the assurance of someone accustomed to being obeyed. His refined voice suits the part; nothing in it invites a discussion. He makes the headmaster’s certainty credible, even when the writing gives us little reason to share it. Peter Weir’s drama draws its moral lessons too neatly, and Nolan gives it little difficulty in deciding whom to favour. We were moved by the film, because Robin Williams and the young cast make its sentiment feel earned. Lloyd’s screen work repeatedly used that polish for patrician, official and less respectable characters. His film debut was as Frank Fry in Alfred Hitchcock’s *Saboteur* (1942), and *Spellbound* (1945) brought another Hitchcock part. Charlie Chaplin’s *Limelight* (1952) belongs to that early stretch too, before television gave Lloyd substantial work on the other side of the camera. From 1957, Hitchcock employed him as an associate producer and director on *Alfred Hitchcock Presents*. That continuing collaboration makes the directing work a substantial part of his career, rather than an actor’s occasional excursion. His directing credits include *Columbo* (1971), where the suspects’ misplaced superiority is territory he also knew as a performer. We rate the programme for Peter Falk’s patient questioning and the comedy it draws from those encounters. The routine can leave an episode stretched, though Falk remains worth watching when the mystery takes its time. Lloyd’s television work also supplied a sustained acting role in *St. Elsewhere* (1982–88), as Dr. Daniel Auschlander, the chief of services. The reservation about such persuasive authority figures is that a writer can be tempted to let the casting do too much. Nolan has less room for uncertainty than the pupils in *Dead Poets Society*, whose performances do much of the difficult work. Lloyd makes the headmaster convincing, but the role does not ask us to reconsider him. Start with Weir’s film for the performances, provided a school drama that spells out its lessons will not spoil the evening. ## Biography Norman Lloyd was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned nearly a century. Born Norman Perlmutter in Jersey City, New Jersey, he began working in the theatre in the 1920s and was a member of Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre, appearing in its 1937 production of Julius Caesar. He made his screen debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942) and later appeared in Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) and Charlie Chaplin’s Limelight (1952). Lloyd also produced and directed episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His later film roles included Mr. Nolan in Dead Poets Society (1989), Mr. Letterblair in The Age of Innocence (1993), The Professor in In Her Shoes (2005) and a part in Trainwreck (2015). On television he was known for St. Elsewhere and guest appearances in series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Modern Family. He died in 2021. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com, ew.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Dead Poets Society* (1989), Fi1m 80, as Mr. Nolan — [page](https://film.one/film/dead-poets-society.md) - *Columbo* (1971), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/columbo.md) ## Also credited on (not yet reviewed) - *St. Elsewhere* (1982), Actor ## Also known for - *Modern Family* (2009), Donald - *Trainwreck* (2015), Norman - *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (1987), Professor Galen - *In Her Shoes* (2005), The Professor - *The Age of Innocence* (1993), Letterblair — [page](https://film.one/film/the-age-of-innocence.md) - *Spellbound* (1945), Mr. Garmes - *Limelight* (1952), Bodalink - *Saboteur* (1942), Frank Fry --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/norman-lloyd