Leo Gordon

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Leo Vincent Gordon (born December 2, 1922 in Brooklyn , New York City , † December 26, 2000 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American actor and author.

Life

Gordon experienced a lot of poverty in his childhood and adolescence and left school early to earn money. In 1941 he went to the army for two years; after that he was in southern California, where he got on the wrong track. Shortly after the end of World War II, he was arrested for armed robbery and spent five years in San Quentin Prison, which he used for further training. After his release, he moved to New York City, where he took acting classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in addition to making a living . He also met his future wife, Lynn Cartwright . The two married in 1950.

Gordon's acting career began on stage alongside stars such as Edward G. Robinson and Tyrone Power . Soon the tall, powerful actor with angular facial features and a rich, deep voice and steel-blue eyes was discovered for television roles. More than 180 titles followed until his death, which mostly used him as a mean, threatening character. One of his early films was Terror in Block 11 , which was filmed at the location of his previous prison stay and because of which director Don Siegel once called him "the most terrifying man I have ever met". Many of Gordon's early films were crime films, later westerns made up the vast majority of his engagements. He was seen as a guest on almost every series in this genre that was broadcast on television in the 1950s and 1960s. One of his greatest successes was Maverick , in which he embodied a continuous character. Until 1994 he was active as an actor, also in well-known cinema wests such as McLintock! and the remake of Maverick .

Gordon was a sought-after writer for screenplays (mostly as Leo V. Gordon ); numerous television episodes have been written by him, sometimes indulging in the role of a positive character for himself. Occasionally he also wrote for the screen. Some novels and stories round off his work.

In 1997, Gordon received the Golden Boot Award for his contributions to the western genre.

Filmography (selection)

actor

Screenwriter

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gordon at matineeclassics ( Memento of the original from July 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / matineeclassics.com
  2. ↑ mst3kinfo on Leo V. Gordon
personal data
SURNAME Gordon, Leo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gordon, Leo V .; Gordon, Leo Vincent
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH December 26, 2000
Place of death los Angeles