Larry Norman was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the oldest son of Joe Hendrex "Joe Billy" Norman (December 9, 1923 – April 28, 1999), and his wife, Margaret Evelyn "Marge" Stout (born in 1925 in Nebraska). Joe Norman had served as a sergeant in the US Army Air Corps during World War II and worked at the Southern Pacific Railroad while studying to become a teacher. After Norman's birth, the family joined the Southern Baptist church. In 1950 the family moved to San Francisco, where they attended an African American Pentecostal church and then a Baptist church, where Norman became a Christian at the age of five. In 1959, Norman performed on the syndicated television show "The Original Amateur Hour".