Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945 in Santa Monica, California) is an American actor. An engaging and hard-working character actor, he's perhaps best known for his iconic role as Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 classic The Shawshank Redemption. He's otherwise turned up in critically acclaimed films such as JFK, Dolores Claiborne, Argo and, uh, Bats.
Tropes
- Deadpan Snarker: His characters often have a very dry, bitter sense of humor.
- Reality Subtext: Any of his military roles are this; he's a Vietnam veteran who earned the Vietnam Service Medal and a Bronze Star for valor.
Stage Roles
- Evita as Juan Peron
- Sweeney Todd as Benjamin Barker/Sweeney Todd
Film Roles
- 1989 Born on the Fourth of July as Doctor
- 1991 JFK as TV Newsman
- 1993 Demolition Man as Chief George Earle
- 1994 The Shawshank Redemption as Warden Samuel Norton
- 1995 Dolores Claiborne as Mr. Pease
- 1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls as Burton Quinn
- 1996 Broken Arrow as Pritchett
- 1997 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as Finley Largent
- 1998 Patch Adams as Dean Walcott
- 1999 Bats as Dr. Alexander McCabe
- 2000 The Perfect Storm as Alexander McAnally III
- 2001 Boat Trip as Boat Captain
- 2004 I ♥ Huckabees as Mr. Silver
- 2004 Iron Jawed Angels as President Woodrow Wilson
- 2007 Dead Silence as Edward Ashen
- 2007 Fracture as Judge Gardner
- 2007 Pandemic as Dr. Max Sorkosky
- 2011 The Lincoln Lawyer as Cecil Dobbs
- 2011 Get the Gringo as Warren Kaufman
- 2012 Trouble with the Curve as Watson
- 2012 Argo as Secretary of State Cyrus Vance
- 2021 Ghostbusters: Afterlife as The Ghost Farmer (Egon Spengler, body/performance capture double for the late Harold Ramis)
Television Roles
- 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation as Capt. Benjamin Maxwell
- 2002 Greg the Bunny as Junction Jack
- 2004 Monk as Dwight Ellison
- 2004-2006 Desperate Housewives as Noah Taylor
- 2006 NUMB3RS as Boyd Resnick
- 2007 The Batman as Gorman
- 2007-2010 24 as Ethan Kanin
- 2010 Royal Pains as Gen. William Collins
- 2015 Daredevil (2015) as Leland Owlsley
