‘The Nanny’ and ‘Romancing the Stone’ actor Zack Norman dead at 83

Zack Norman, the actor best known for playing Danny DeVito’s sidekick in “Romancing the Stone,” died Sunday in Burbank, Calif., of natural causes.

He was 83.

Norman’s daughter, Lori Zuker Briller, paid tribute to her father in a Facebook post.

“Wherever you drifted off to, I know everything just got livelier,” she wrote. “You were the most enigmatic person wherever you went. The best father, husband, grandfather and friend, you brought so many laughs and so much enrichment to all of our lives.”

Norman played Cousin Ira, the sidekick of Danny DeVito, in the film “Romancing the Stone.” 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Born Howard Jerrold Zuker in Boston, Mass., Norman was a renaissance man, having been a musician, comedian, actor, producer and art collector over the course of a six-decade-long career. 

After appearing in off-Broadway plays during the 1960s, and then forging a successful career as a touring stand-up comic, he segued into films — especially those of director Henry Jaglom, such as “Tracks” (1977), “Sitting Ducks” (1980) and “Babyfever.” 

“Romancing the Stone” actor Zack Norman died Sunday April 28 at age 83. AP

Most famously, he played antiques dealer Cousin Ira in Robert Zemeckis’ “Romancing the Stone,” with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and Harry in 1990’s “Cadillac Man,” with Robin Williams and Fran Drescher.

Norman, who appeared in the movie “Sitting Ducks” (pictured), was also a prolific art collector. United Film Distribution/Courtesy Everett Collection

Several years later, Norman guest starred three times on Drescher’s popular sit-com “The Nanny.” He also appeared on episodes of “The A-Team” and “Baywatch.”

As a producer and financier, Norman worked on “Hearts and Minds,” the 1974 film that won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, which was a personal highlight of his lengthy and varied resume.

“My most proud movie was 1975’s Academy Award [winner] for the Best Documentary called ‘Hearts and Minds’, which is really very, very, very important and part of the reason that the Vietnam War was stopped,” he told the “Not Real Art” podcast in January 2023. “What a life.” 

In the 1970s, Norman also developed a passion for art. His collection includes works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.

Norman is survived by his wife, Nancy; sister Jane; daughters Lori and Tracy; sons Stephen and Michael; and grandchildren Sascha, Addison, Benjamin, Henry, Liliana, Jonathan, Justin, Jayden, Jackie, Gabrielle, Rachel, Susie, Joseph and Seth.