Biography

Norm Tobin was an American actor renowned for his significant contributions to Chicago theater during its ascent in the 1970s to become the world-class cultural destination it is today.

An electrician by trade, he literally helped build the St. Nicholas Theater by wiring the space that housed the influential company founded by David Mamet, William H. Macy, Patricia Cox and Steven Schachter. Many of his most indelible roles were in their plays, including A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller; The Water Engine by David Mamet (world premiere, in a cast that included William H. Macy and John Mahoney); You Can't Take It With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Jeff Award-winning production); and Moonchildren by Michael Weller (Jeff Award-winning production directed by Robert Falls).

Career highlights on other Chicago stages included appearing opposite Rita Moreno as Geronte in Scapino! by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale at the Marriott Theatre, directed by Dominic Missimi; as Leo "Chuckles the Chipmunk" Herman in A Thousand Clowns by Herb Gardner at Pheasant Run Playhouse, directed by Tom Mula; and receiving special notice as the First Murderer in William Shakespeare's Richard III, directed by William Woodman at the Goodman Theatre.

He could be found contributing to the city's burgeoning theatre scene at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre (Awake and Sing by Clifford Odets, in a cast that included Joyce Hiller Piven, the Organic Theatre (The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler, adapted by Stuart Gordon and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon), the Pub Theatre (Steambath by Bruce Jay Friedman), the Leo Lerner Theatre at Hull House (Midwest premiere of Sam Shepard's Geography of a Horse Dreamer), Victory Gardens Theatre (world premiere of Jeffrey Sweet's Hard Feelings aka Responsible Parties), and North Light Repertory (Coming of Age by Frank Cucci, Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart).

In the '80s, as film production ramped up in Chicago, he played a memorable supporting part opposite James Caan in Michael Mann 's Thief (1981) . Other appearances include Continental Divide (1981), and the made-for-TV movie The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck (1984) among other televised appearances in episodes and commercials.

After a roughly 20-year hiatus from acting that included struggles with memory loss, he developed a relationship in his later years with Chicago's The Gift Theatre, where he bravely returned to the stage in The Halloween Show and Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters, both directed by Michael Patrick Thornton, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, directed by John Kelly Connolly.

Norm was preceded in death by his son Steve.
- IMDb mini biography by: Neil Tobin

An electrician by trade, he worked on the Helmut Jahn-designed United terminal at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

John Byrne made him part of the Marvel universe by modeling a character after him in Fantastic Four #257 (May 1983): also named Norm Tobin, the character is the actor friend of fellow actors Julie Angel and Sharon Selleck. In his capacity as real-estate agent (which the real-life Tobin was not), he finds an apartment for the Human Torch.

Considered for the role of Guido in Risky Business (1983) that would go to Joe Pantoliano.