- published: 16 Sep 2013
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Terry Norris (born 9 June 1930) is an Australian actor who interrupted his career for 10 years with a stint in state politics.
Norris was born in Melbourne. In the 1950s and early 1960s he worked as an actor in England, appearing in repertory in Bradford, Huddersfield and York among other places, before returning to Australia in 1963. He has appeared in many roles on television, film and theatre. He is possibly best known for two long-running television series roles. He played Joe Turner in Bellbird from 1969 until the series ended in 1977. He then played Senior sergeant Eric O'Reilly in police series Cop Shop starting December 1977. Norris has also appeared in the television series Bobby Dazzler and The Last of the Australians. His most recent film roles are in Romulus, My Father in 2007 and in the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.
Norris left Cop Shop in 1982 to pursue a career in state politics by standing for a seat in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. He was the Labor member for Noble Park from 1982 to 1985 and then for Dandenong from 1985 to 1992.