French postcard by Edition Ross, no. E 4856-1. Photo: Fox.
Alfredo Carlos Birabén (born June 16, 1905 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, died August 24, 1956 in Los Angeles, Hollywood, California), was an Argentine actor, who had a career in the United States under the stage name Barry Norton.
Barry Norton was born in the Belgrano neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, where his parents, Virginia de Bailleul, of French nationality, and the engineer Federico Birabén (1866-1929), who at the beginning of the 20th century held high positions in the public administration and was a precursor of the introduction of decimal classification in librarianship in Argentina, lived. Thanks to the good economic position of his parents, he received a good education, attended prestigious schools in his country and at an early age made extensive trips to other countries.
In 1923 Birabén was one of the many Argentine fans who travelled to the United States to witness the September 14 heavyweight title fight between boxers Jack Dempsey and Luis Ángel Firpo at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
Dazzled by the country, he obtained permission from his parents to stay in that city and complete his studies when he returned to Argentina. In order not to be totally dependent on his parents' contributions, Birabén worked in large New York hotels, taking advantage of his language skills. He also made some appearances in theatre thanks to an association with the Paramount Acting Academy. With his parents' permission, he travelled to the West Coast, and upon learning about the film industry in Los Angeles, he decided to stay in that city, for which he no longer counted on his father's help.
He had to work in jobs to which he was not accustomed, such as labourer in a sawmill and sweeper and even went through very hard times when he had nothing to eat until he could not stand it any longer and asked his parents to send him money to support him for another four months, to which they agreed with the commitment that after that period he would return home. The truth is that at the end of that period, he asked again for financial aid, which was again sent to him with the warning that if he decided to stay in Hollywood he would have to support himself.
A job obtained at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles brought Norton closer to the world of cinema and allowed him to meet actress Pola Negri, who took him into her service and later hired him to work with Douglas Fairbanks for the production company United Artists. Although he performed administrative tasks, this new job brought him closer to his intention to devote himself to acting and so it was that in 1926, on the recommendation of the writer Laura Jansen, he was auditioned and hired to work in the film The Lily, directed by Max de Maigny. That same year (1926) he was hired by 20th Century Fox and acted directed by Richard Deane in The Canyon of Light, starring actor Tom Mix, who at that time was very popular. Norton's appreciated performance in What Price of Glory (1926) transformed him into a quoted figure.
In 1927 Norton worked in the comedy Ankles Preferred, starring the popular actress Madge Bellamy, and returned to drama with The Heart of Salome. He continued acting for Fox Studios until 1928 when he went on loan to Paramount Pictures to play the substantial role of an aviator in the film The Legion of the Condemned (1928), which featured, among others, Gary Cooper and Fay Wray. After other films, he was given a leading role opposite Emil Jannings in Sins of the Fathers (Ludwig Berger, 1928) and returned to Fox in the role of one of the two male acrobats in F.W. Murnau's lost film Four Devils (1928) with a performance that the New York Times described as superb. Even if Latin-American, Norton avoided being typecast as Latin Lover.
The economic crisis of 1929 determined the movie studios to lay off personnel and Norton was left without a job. When, after a period of inactivity, he was about to return to his country, sound cinema had become established worldwide and Paramount began filming a series of Spanish-language films for the Latin American market. Thus Norton returned to work in 1930 in El cuerpo del delito, a thriller based on a book by the famous S. S. Van Dine and directed by Adolph Mahler. It was followed by other Spanish language versions of films such as Amor audaz (1930) in which she acted with Rosita Moreno and Adolphe Menjou, Galas de la Paramount (1930, the Spanish version of Paramount on Parade), where he performed musical numbers with Rosita Moreno -including a song performed by Carlos Gardel-, the Spanish version of the famous Dracula (George Melford, 1930) in which Norton played the part of Jonathan/Juan Harker), and El pasado acusa (1931). In 1931, the production company decided that Norton should return to English-language films, so he acted a small part in the film Dishonored, directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Marlene Dietrich in the leading role. Norton played the soldier who cannot shoot the female spy in the end and is replaced.
With the decline in Spanish-language film production in Los Angeles, Norton's opportunities for leading roles became less and less frequent. Though he had a pleasing voice, his Argentine accent seemed incongruous with his appearance. According to some sources, he never mastered English very well. In 1933, he secured what would be his last important role, playing Jean Parker's Spanish fiancé in Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933). In addition to small, even uncredited supporting parts in famous films such as Imitation of Life, Camille, etc., he had the lead in a B-movie, Devil Monster / Sea Fiend (S. Edwin Graham, 1936) and a substantial part in the Universal film Storm over the Andes (1935). Although he would continue to work until his death in 1956, Norton's last credited screen role would be Should Husbands Work? (1939). For the rest of his career, Norton continued to reside in Los Angeles and obtain small roles in films. Many films he appeared in are now considered to be classics.
Norton was married to Josephine Byers, a woman from California by whom he had a daughter, Sharon, and two grandchildren. In her autobiography Being and Becoming, actress Myrna Loy wrote that she briefly dated Norton. Other sources link him romantically with Dorothy Dare and Alice Terry. In the latter's case, they appear to have been friends rather than lovers. On August 24, 1956, Norton died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California. He was 51 years old. He died penniless and his old Hollywood friends – among them Antonio Moreno, Gilbert Roland, Gertrude Astor, Philo McCullough and Charles Morton – took up a collection to pay for his cremation, which required the permission of his brother in Buenos Aires
Sources: Spanish, German and English Wikipedia.
