Richard Norton is an Australian martial arts legend with a 6th degree BJJ black belt among his impressive achievements, and he has sadly passed away at the age of 75. Not only was Norton a pioneer for martial arts in Australia, but he used those skills to have a long career in the film industry as well. He originally started out with Judo before becoming a Karate black belt and instructor, all while working as a security guard in the 1970s. From there he began working as a personal bodyguard for a number of celebrities, while expanding his martial arts skillset with kickboxing, Muay Thai, and BJJ.
The 1980s were when Norton’s career really took off, as he starred in a number of films opposite a number of martial arts movie legends like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Chuck Norris. Norton also trained with Norris pretty extensively, sharing time on the mat with other veterans like Bill ‘Super Foot’ Wallace and Jean Jacques Machado. It was Machado who introduced him to BJJ of course and he awarded Norton with each of his belt ranks, right up to the 6th degree on his black belt. Norton was a true student of the game and continued to learn from those around him while also teaching the next generation himself.
His film career continued right up to his passing too, as he starred as ‘The Prime Imperator’ in both Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024). Even though he worked as an actor a little less often in his later years, Richard Norton was still a sought-after fight coordinator regardless. He took on that responsibility in both of the aforementioned films; along with Suicide Squad (2016) and The Suicide Squad (2021) too. Norton was a huge presence across both the martial arts and film worlds throughout his life and as a pioneer of mixing styles in Australia, he will be sorely missed.
The news that Richard Norton had passed away was announced on his official Instagram account by his wife, Judy Green:
