Zack Norman

Zack Norman
Zack Norman in Festival in Cannes
Born	Howard Jerrold Zuker (1940-05-27) May 27, 1940 (age 76) Boston, MA
Alma mater	Vanderbilt University, Harvard Business School
Known for	Actor, producer, financier

Zack Norman (born Howard Jerrold Zuker, May 27, 1940) is an American actor, producer, writer, comedian, musician, film financier and real estate developer. Born in Boston and raised in nearby Revere, Massachusetts, he is best known for his role as Ira in 20th Century Fox's Romancing the Stone (1984) and as Kaz Naiman in Paramount Classics' Festival in Cannes (2002). He has also co-starred in films such as Ragtime (1981) and Cadillac Man (1990). On television, he has guest-starred in such popular series as The A-Team (1985) and Baywatch (1993), had a recurring role on The Nanny (1993–1995) and was featured in several TV movies including At Home with the Webbers (1993). As Howard Zuker, he has produced, presented and/or financed more than forty motion pictures, including Hearts and Minds (1974), which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Norman began performing as a stand-up comedian in strip joints and nightclubs while producing his first Off-Broadway play, the New York premiere of John Arden's Live Like Pigs, which opened on June 7, 1965. In 1966 he left for Europe to work the U.S. Army Base Circuit operating out of Frankfurt, Germany, playing army clubs throughout Western Europe. On June 7, 1967, Norman opened at the Playboy Club in London, England, where Variety wrote he was "hysterical... one of the funniest guys ever to cross these shores". Soon he was headlining in every Playboy Club on their 18-venue circuit, as well as appearing in hotels and nightclubs such as The Flamingo in Las Vegas and New York's Copacabana with The Temptations. Norman made his debut on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on April 28, 1969. As a stage actor, he starred in more than 20 plays. His performance in the title role of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Stamford Center for the Arts in Stamford, Connecticut (1980) was critically acclaimed.