William Wallace "Bill" Norton, Jr. (September 24, 1925 – October 1, 2010) was an American screenwriter particularly notable for his collaborations with Burt Reynolds Later in life, he was convicted of gun running in France when he tried to send arms from the United States to the Irish National Liberation Army in Northern Ireland. After being released from prison, he moved to Nicaragua, where he shot and killed an intruder in his Managua home. He later spent a year living in Cuba but became disillusioned with Communism and was reportedly smuggled from Mexico into the U.S. by his ex-wife.