Edward Harrison Norton, Jr. was born on August 18, 1969 to father Edward Sr. and mother Robin, in Boston, Massachusetts. His father is an attorney who worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation but his mother, a former foundation executive and teacher, passed away of brain cancer on March 6, 1997. Edward also has a younger brother James and a younger sister Molly. Edward grew up in Columbia, Maryland.

Edward was always interested in becoming an actor, and attended theater schools throughout his life. He eventually managed to find work on stage in New York as a member of the Signature players, who produced the works of playwright and director Edward Albee. In 1996 he got his first film break opposite Richard Gere in the courtroom thriller, "Primal Fear", which lead to his very first Academy Award nomination. He's appeared in over 20 films, earning another Academy Award nomination for this role as a violent white supremacist in 1998's "American History X" and is best known for his 1999 critically aclaimed role in "Fight Club". In 2000 Edward made his directorial debut with the film "Keeping the Faith", and he's also a writer (though as yet to be credited since he's not a part of the Writers' Guild). Edward is also a very well-known enviromentalist. He currently resides in New York.