Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in the films Primal Fear (1996), American History X (1998) and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014). He also starred in other roles, such as The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), Fight Club (1999), Red Dragon (2002), 25th Hour (2002), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Illusionist (2006), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). He has also directed and co-written films, including his directorial debut, Keeping the Faith (2000). He has done uncredited work on several scripts, including The Score (2001), Frida (2002) and The Incredible Hulk (2008).\n', '

Alongside his work in cinema, Norton is an environmental and social activist, and is a member of the board of trustees of Enterprise Community Partners, a non-profit organization for developing affordable housing founded by his grandfather James Rouse. Norton is president of the American branch of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. He ran in the 2009 New York City Marathon to raise money for the Trust. He also raises money for charity through Crowdrise, a social networking community for volunteers and a micro-donations fundraising platform. In July 2010, Norton was designated as the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On July 2, 2014, Norton was elected chairman of the board of trustees to Signature Theatre, a not-for-profit theater company in New York. Norton has been on Signature\'s board since 1996 and served as the co-chair of the Capital Campaign during the building of the Pershing Square Signature Center.\n', '

Norton was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Columbia, Maryland. His father, Edward Mower Norton Jr., served in Vietnam as a Marine lieutenant and was later an environmental lawyer and conservation advocate working in Asia, as well as a federal prosecutor in the Carter administration. His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin" (née Rouse), a teacher of English, died of a brain tumor in 1997. His maternal grandfather, James Rouse, was the founder of The Rouse Company, who developed the city of Columbia, Maryland (where Norton grew up), and helped develop Baltimore\'s Inner Harbor, Norfolk\'s Waterside Festival Marketplace and Boston\'s Quincy Market, as well as co-founded Enterprise Community Partners with Norton\'s maternal step-grandmother, Patty Rouse. Norton has two younger siblings, Molly and Jim, with whom he has professionally collaborated. Norton saw his first performance as a child with his parents at the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA), where he would later act in several productions with CCTA and the Young Columbians, under the direction of Toby Orenstein.\n', '

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