A widower, he was survived by three children and four grandchildren.
Began as a radio disc jockey in 1937.
From 1960 to 1963 Mr. Norton was the host/performer and narrator of the silent film comedy anthology TV series: "Funny Mann". The series was seen in national syndication and on WABC TV Ch. 7 in NYC. Mr. Norton performed in comedy skits as "Milkmann", "Dental Mann", "MailMann", "The King Of Tomatoes", "PartyMann" etc. The skits led into a rerun of an old silent film comedy that featured: Poodles Hannaford, Snub Pollard, Billy Bevan, Oliver Norvell Hardy (without Stan Laurel) and Mickey (McGuire) Rooney. Mr. Norton pre-recorded his narrations, which were dubbed into the film's soundtrack. More often than not, the show's co-producer and co-creator, Bobby (Nick) Nicholson performed in the skits with Mr. Norton.
Served as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
The names of Mr. Norton's three children are: Susan Norton Kinne, Stacy Norton Evans and Clif Norton Jr.
While working in Chicago radio, he met NBC announcer Dave Garroway who introduced Cliff to TV with Garroway's variety series "Garroway at Large." For two years (1949-1951) Cliff was regtularly featured in humorous sketches.