Don Gordon (actor)

For other people of the same name, see Donald Gordon (disambiguation).

Don Gordon
Born	Donald Walter Guadagno (1926-11-13) November 13, 1926 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Donald Gordon
Occupation	Film, television actor
Years active	1949-1993
Spouse(s)	Helen Westcott (1948–1953; divorced) Bek Nelson (1959–1979; divorced) Denise Farr (1979–present)
Children	Jennifer Kaye (b. 1950)

Don Gordon (born November 13, 1926) is an American film and television actor. He is sometimes billed as Donald Gordon.

Life and career

Gordon was born in Los Angeles, California, as Donald Walter Guadagno. He is currently married to Jack Lemmon's step-daughter, Denise Farr. She is the daughter of Felicia Farr, Lemmon's second wife.

His most notable film roles were those in which he appeared alongside his friend Steve McQueen -- Bullitt, Papillon and The Towering Inferno. Earlier, he had twice guest starred on McQueen's CBS western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive.

Gordon appeared in the 1959 episode "In a Deadly Fashion" of the syndicated television series Border Patrol, starring Richard Webb. He also guest starred in John Bromfield's syndicated crime drama, U.S. Marshal.

In 1962, Gordon was nominated for one Primetime Emmy Award for his role as Joey Tassili on CBS's legal drama, The Defenders, starring E.G. Marshall.

Another early appearance from Gordon was in a memorable supporting role in CBS's The Twilight Zone episodes "The Four of Us Are Dying" and "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross."

In the 1960-1961 season, Gordon was a cast member of the syndicated series The Blue Angels, with co-stars Dennis Cross, Warner Jones, Morgan Jones, and Mike Galloway, based on the elite precision flight demonstration pilots of the United States Navy Blue Angels.

In 1963, Gordon appeared in the episode "Without Wheat, There is No Bread" of the CBS anthology series, The Lloyd Bridges Show. That same year, he appeared on NBC's medical drama, The Eleventh Hour. In the 1963-1964 season, he played a soldier returning from South Vietnam in the ABC drama Channing, set on the fictitious Channing College campus and co-starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones.

Still another 1963 performance was as Quinn Serrato, with Harry Dean Stanton as Nick Crider and William Schallert as Sully Mason, in the episode "Nobody Dies on Saturday" of the NBC modern western series, Empire, starring Richard Egan as the New Mexico rancher Jim Redigo.

In 1964 Gordon appeared as deputy sheriff Morgan Fallon in "Tug Of War" an episode of "The Fugitive" TV series along with Arthur O'Connell.

In 1967 Gordon appeared as Charlie Gilman in "The Trial", an episode in the second season of "The Invaders" TV series, along with Harold Gould, Russell Johnson, and Lynda Day George.

His other science-fiction roles were on episodes of The Outer Limits entitled "The Invisibles" and "Second Chance." In 1974, he played a former convict, who is murdered by the character played by Dick Van Dyke in the Columbo episode Negative Reaction, starring Peter Falk. He also played the Navy diving expert brother of Seaview crewman Kowalski in the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episode "Deadly Waters."

In 1981, Gordon played the assistant of the Antichrist Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict. He had a bit part as a police officer in Richard Donner's 1987 action film Lethal Weapon, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. In 1983, he appeared on CBS's The Dukes Of Hazzard as hit man Frank Scanlon, in the sixth season episode "Enos' Last Chance".

Gordon's last credited film work was the 2005 documentary, Steve McQueen – The Essence of Cool. Gordon was interviewed along with several others who had worked with McQueen, including Robert Culp, Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallach, Martin Landau, and Lord Attenborough.

Selected filmography

• Twelve O'Clock High (1949) (uncredited)
• Force of Arms (1951) (uncredited)
• It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951) (uncredited)
• Halls of Montezuma (1951)
• Law and Order (1953) (uncredited)
• The Benny Goodman Story (1956) (uncredited)
• Cry Tough (1959)
• Bullitt (1968)
• The Gamblers (1970)
• WUSA (1970)
• Cannon for Cordoba (1971)
• The Last Movie (1971)
• Z.P.G. (1971)
• Fuzz (1972)
• Slaughter (1972)
• The Mack (1973)
• The Return of Charlie Chan (1973)
• Papillon (1973)
• The Education of Sonny Carson (1974)
• The Towering Inferno (1974)
• Out of the Blue (1980)
• Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
• The Beast Within (1982)
• Lethal Weapon (1987)
• Skin Deep (1989)
• The Exorcist III (1990)
• The Borrower (1991)

External links

• Don Gordon at the Internet Movie Database