He presented television programmes on ITV for many years, including the nostalgia quiz Looks Familiar and blooper shows It'll be Alright on the Night and Laughter File.

Norden was born as Denis Moss Cohen[1] into a Jewish family in Hackney, in London's East End.

His parents were George Cohen, a tailor specializing in bridal gowns, and his wife Ginny (née Lubelsky), who was of Polish heritage.

Over the next several years, Norden, who had long had a fascination with Hollywood, wrote the scripts for several films, including Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell!

In 1965, he wrote, narrated and starred in a featurette jointly made by the James Bond producers and the Ford Motor Company.

Norden takes a young relative on a day out to a film set, where they meet several stars and production team members, but not Sean Connery.

He contributed to a BBC Four season about the history of satire, and he appeared as a guest on The One Show on 2 October 2008 to talk about his life and career as well as his book.

He was interviewed in a one-off documentary called Der Sommer 1939 ("The Summer of 1939"), which was broadcast on 12 August 2009 on the Franco-German television station Arte.

Norden also appeared as part of a contribution of show business friends, writers and performers in the BBC documentary The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse in January 2011.

[7][8] Norden and his wife, Avril, whom he married in 1943, had a son, Nick, an architect, and a daughter, Maggie, a radio personality and lecturer at the London College of Fashion.

Norden died at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London on 19 September 2018, aged 96, less than three months after the death of his wife.