Paddy Norval

Paddy Norval (b. Johannesburg, 14/08/1943 - d. **/**/1986) was an actress.

Biography

Patricia Danielle Norval was the only child of James Norval (1908-1970) and Anna Cloete (1913-1999), one of South Africa’s most prominent theatrical couples. She grew up in Bloemfontein and initially went to boarding school at the Hoër Meisieskool Oranje while her parents were on tour and then attended Hoërskool Linden in Johannesburg. Though her stage career never really took off, as a little girl she already had a cameo in the film Hans-die-Skipper (1952) and as early as 1955 she had a role in Piere de Wet’s Vadertjie Langbeen, the Afrikaans film version of Daddy Long-Legs. The following year she played one of Paul Krüger’s grandchildren in Werner Grünbauer’s film with that title, while in 1961 she acted in Spore in die Modder, a film directed by her father. In 1963 she joined her parents in the theatre to tour with Moleste met ‘n Verliefde Spook. After a short period with PACT, she attended the University of Stellenbosch.

An attractive woman, she often appeared in the newspapers for reasons that had little to do with her acting ability, including her somewhat troubled private life. In October 1972 she married American actor and stuntman Ken Norman (real name Klaus Hermann Karl Nonnenprediger), who appeared with her in Tim Spring’s film Dog Squad (1973), but in 1975 the couple were divorced. Subsequently she was in a relationship with racing driver James Hunt, but throughout her tragically short life her name was linked with various prominent figures. In 1979 she directed a student production of Anastasia staged by the Johannesburg Technikon Drama Workshop and subsequently ran a drama workshop on the premises of the Joubert Park Primary School. In addition to her film roles, she was also the heroine in the Afrikaans photo-story Zelda Dia and it was said that she was the first female disc jockey in Johannesburg.