Ken Norris was the eldest child of the Norris family and became the "man of the house" after his father left when he was still young. In 1970, Ken and his mother became concerned when his sister, Holly, refused to go to college and instead got a glamorous job working for their wealthy father, Stanley. Meanwhile, with all of his time spent building a legal career, Ken, himself, had no experience with romantic relationships, yet when he hired the beautiful Janet Mason as his secretary in 1971, he fell instantly in love for the first time in his life. Although Janet made it clear that she couldn't reciprocate his affections because she was still in love with her ex, Ed Bauer, Ken assured her he would wait forever for her love. Meanwhile, Ken disapproved of Holly's relationship with Roger Thorpe because he had the strong suspicion that Roger was only dating Holly to please Stanley. Ken and Barbara tried to pair Holly with honest widower Peter Wexler, but Holly had her heart set on Roger. Meanwhile, the family was shocked when Stanley suddenly married young Leslie Jackson. When Stanley was murdered, Ken was a suspect until Linell Conway confessed to the murder in 1972. Meanwhile, Janet had ended her affair with Ed and Ken took advantage and ended up seducing her.

Unfortunately, Ken became increasingly insecure because Janet wasn't returning his affections. Then, one rainy night, Roger Thorpe came by Janet's apartment and tried to force himself on her. Janet held off Roger's advances, but Roger got Janet's lipstick on his shirt collar. As Roger was leaving Janet's apartment, Ken's sister, Holly, was coming to see Janet and misconstrued the whole episode. In love with Roger and believing that he and Janet just had sex, Holly bolted from the apartment building and ran into Ken. Holly told her brother that she'd seen Roger and Janet kissing. Ken was livid and beat up Roger right there on the spot! Afterwards, Janet discovered that she was pregnant and Ken married her for the sake of the baby. In 1973, Barbara married Adam Thorpe and, although Ken and Holly were against it at first because he was Roger's father, they changed their minds. Meanwhile, the marriage of Janet and Ken was growing more troubled each day, as Ken's jealous ranting became insufferable; if she had not become pregnant with his child, Janet would have left him. Not long after, Ken and Janet had a little girl, Emily. However, by now Ken was so possessive of Janet that he resented the time she spent with Emily. When Janet consulted Ed about Emily's urinary tract infection, Ken and Holly accused the couple of plotting to run off together. However, they were wrong and Barbara warned both her children to curb their jealous behavior. Finally, Janet had enough and attempted to leave Ken, but he convinced her to stay when he agreed to consult a psychiatrist named Dr. Bertrand Mandel in 1974.

Unfortunately, Ken didn't listen to Mandel's advices and stopped coming to therapy. For hours on end, Ken would talk into a tape recorder and pour out his morbid fantasies about Janet and Ed. When Janet learned that he'd stopped attending therapy, they had an argument while driving and got into an accident. Ken was temporarily blinded and when Janet refused to come back to him, he convalesced at Barbara and Adam's. Soon, Ken's eyesight returned but he kept it a secret. Consumed with rage over his crumbling marriage, Ken spotted Janet in an embrace with Ed and erroneously believed the two were having an affair. Consumed with anger and jealousy, Ken fantasized about murdering Ed and decided to make his fantasy a reality, so buying a gun, Ken set out to murder his imagined rival. In April 1975, Ken followed Ed and Janet and confronted them both. He pulled out his gun and shot Ed in the chest. Ed was rushed to Cedars, saved, but his left hand was partially paralyzed. Janet, guilt stricken, then left town for San Francisco while Ken was carted away to a sanitarium in a state of catatonia.

After spending decades in a mental hospital, Ken was finally released and returned to Springfield in 1998. Unfortunately, he arrived at a time when his sister's life was falling apart. Ken's arrival coincided with the departure of Holly's husband Fletcher Reade, who took off with their daughter, Meg. Though shocked by Ken's abrupt return to town, when Holly's son-in-law, attorney Ross Marler, confirmed that Ken had been released from the hospital and hadn't escaped, Holly shared a warm moment with Ken and decided to let him stay with her. However, it became clear to Ken that Holly was in utter despair over the breakup of her marriage. Not wanting to see his sister destroy herself, he attempted to help Holly overcome her drinking problem, getting through to her by reminding her to do it for her daughters if not for herself. He also became aware of the marital problems of Holly's daughter, Blake, and vowed to make things right for her. Learning that a mobster named Mick Santos was blackmailing Blake with a tape of her confession stating that her indiscretion with Ben Warren was consensual, Ken beat Mick to a pulp and got the tape back. When Ken brought the tape to Blake, she at first denied everything, then broke down and thanked her uncle for saving her marriage and her life but told him that Ross can never know about the tape. When Ross entered, Ken helped his niece again by taking and hiding the tape. Later, Ben burst in and accused Blake of stealing the tape. When Ken walked in and saw Blake in Ben's arms, he warned him to leave Blake alone. Alone, Ken comforted Blake and swore he'd kill Ben if he ever hurt her again. Later, guilt-ridden Blake, not wanting to hurt Ross, but insistent that he know the truth, retrieved the tape from Ken and gave it to Ross.

Meanwhile, Holly continued to share her problems with her brother, who regretted not being around to protect her the way he did when they were younger. Still thinking that Ken must have been the one who helped Blake get the tape, Ben went to confront him and found herbicide in Holly's basement. The herbicide lead Ben to conclude that Ken was the one who'd been stalking various people in Springfield, the one the police dubbed "The Nursery Rhyme Stalker". Just then, Holly walked in, stunned to find Ben accusing her brother of being the nursery rhyme stalker, and threw Ben out. Holly and Ken became closer as they tried to protect each other. Not long after, an attempt was made on Ben's life. Luckily, Blake saved a poisoned Ben from drowning in his bathtub and took him to the hospital where he told Detectives Teri DeMarco and Frank Cooper that he believed that Ken was the stalker. Despite Holly's frantic protests, Teri and Frank planned to search for a missing Ken to see if he is indeed the Nursery Rhyme Stalker. After being warned by Frank and Teri that her life may be in danger, since she was one of the stalker's initial victims, Harley Cooper saw Ken's picture, and realized that he was the man that almost ran her off the road. Later, Harley was treated to a visit by an agitated Ken, who tried to hire the private detective to clear his name. Just as Harley had begun to believe in his innocence, her husband, Phillip, and the cops burst in.

Terrified, Ken grabbed a knife and held it to Harley's neck. Since Harley couldn't regain Ken's trust, Frank threatened to shoot Ken if he didn't release Harley. While Phillip pleaded with a desperate Ken to release Harley, Harley joined in and succeeded in talking him down. Just as Ken was about to release Harley, Phillip saw Teri taking aim at Ken and lunged at her. The gun went off, but, luckily, no one was hurt. With police wanting to question Ken, Holly begged Ben to defend her brother. Though Harley protested when Teri and a doctor planned to administer Ken a drug that would act as a truth serum, arguing that the drug also made patients highly suggestible, Ross backed Ken up when he stated that he wanted to take the drug so that he would be cleared. While under its influence, Ken incriminated himself by saying he couldn't stop the stalking attacks, causing Holly to become hysterical when Ken wondered if maybe he was responsible. Ken was looking more and more guilty and Blake and Holly worked together to reassure Ken that he will not be sent back to the asylum. Later, Frank nailed Holly for staging the stalking incident at her house to get Ken out of jail. Finally, Ken revealed to Holly his secret—he saw her videotapes and knew that she was the stalker.

Understanding, Ken promised to keep her secret since he believed that her confession was a cry for help. Not long after, in 1999, Holly showed up at the diner and told Ken that she needed his help—she kidnapped various children, including her grandchildren! While, Ken made it clear to Holly that he didn't approve of what she had done Holly shot back by criticizing the mothers' treatment of their children. Later, when Blake learned that the children were gone, she realized what happened and went on television to plead with Holly to return home. When Ken saw the news, he insisted that Holly watch the heart-felt entreaty from her daughter. Clearly affected, Holly informed to kids that they were going home, but Ken quickly discovered that Holly had no intention of returning the children at all. In the end, their whereabouts were discovered, and Holly was sent to a mental hospital for a brief time. While she was there, Ken tried to pick up the pieces of his life in Springfield. However, after an angry Buzz Cooper refused to let him work at the Diner, a disgraced Ken left Springfield again. Last word on Ken was that he was living in San Diego near his daughter, Emily Norris. .