
Johnny Norris
Johnny Norris is the main protagonist of the story The Ledge, the first segment of the 1985 Stephen King anthology horror film Cat's Eye. Based on the short story by Stephen King of the same name,
He is portrayed by Robert Hays.
Biography[]
Johnny Norris is a man who was a professional tennis player who had a problem with drugs in his past. He is seeing the wife of a mobster named Cressner, a casino owner in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His lover wanted to get away from Cressner cause of his controling ways and Johnny was helping her get out of town by bus. Johnny would encounter two of Cressner's men who assault him and kidnap him and take him to Cressner.
As revenge, Cressner blackmails Norris into a dangerous ordeal: he must circumnavigate the narrow exterior ledge of Cressner's penthouse apartment in a skyscraper. If he can make it all the way around, Cressner will grant his wife a divorce. If Norris refuses, Cressner will call the police and have him arrested for possession of drugs, which have been planted in Norris' Mustang by a henchman named Albert.
Norris agrees. Cressner harasses Norris by startling him with a horn and turning on a fire hose at the halfway point to keep Norris from lingering. A pigeon lands beside Norris and pecks at his foot, to the point of causing it to bleed. Norris gets into a part of the opening of the building and tries to open up the window and sees Ducky, one of Cressner's henchmen there. Cressner would use a firehose and shoot heavy water at Norris to get him to keep going. Despite these distractions and a moment alone hanging from a dislodged neon sign, Norris makes it back to the apartment. Cressner says he will honor his bet: his henchman has removed the drugs, and presents Norris with a bag of cash—however, he kicks over the bag to reveal his wife's severed head. Norris attacks Cressner, while Albert is tripped by the tomcat and drops his gun. Norris uses the gun to shoot Albert, then points it at Cressner. Norris forces Cressner to undergo the same ordeal on the ledge. The tomcat watches as Cressner loses his balance and falls to his death.