Life
Emile Norman grew up with a club foot on a San Gabriel Valley walnut farm. From an early age he exhibited artistic talent, carving his first sculpture from a riverside rock at age 11, – ruining his father's chisels, but also gaining his respect.
From 1946, Norman lived and worked at his studio-home in Big Sur on Pfeiffer Ridge with his partner Brooks Clement, until Clement's death in 1973 from cancer.
In 2008, actors Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry met Norman, purchased land from him in Big Sur, became his neighbors and his close friends – eventually taking five years to produce a PBS documentary, Emile Norman: By His Own Design. Having moved in with Norman in 2003, long-time friends Jeff Mallory and C. Kevin Smith had discovered movie film shot by Norman's partner Brooks Clement on a hand-cranked 16 mm Bolex, footage that was eventually incorporated in the documentary.
Norman died September 24, 2009 in Monterey, California at age 91, survived by three sisters, Marilyn Bogart, Mabel Malone and Edna Rhodes.
Note: According to the documentary, Emile Norman was born Emil Nomann.
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