Norman Irving Newlander

Norman is a veteran talent manager and Sandy Kominsky's closest friend, a blunt, deadpan realist who has seen every kind of Hollywood nonsense and stopped being impressed by any of it. His wife Eileen is seriously ill, and he carries that weight quietly while still showing up, sharp-tongued and loyal, for Sandy's endless complaints.

Alan Arkin plays him with a flat, weary precision that makes every insult land like a favor — he clearly loves Sandy too much to let him get away with anything. The show pairs Norman's grief with his comic timing rather than separating them, and Arkin never lets the sadness soften into sentiment or the jokes go glib.