Tough Guy Actor Leo Gordon Dies
William J. Meyerbeck
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP)--Leo Gordon, a tough-guy actor famous for playing the
villain in scores of Westerns and television shows over nearly 50 years, has
died at the age of 78.
Gordon died Tuesday at his Los Angeles home after a brief illness, said his
daughter, Tara Gordon.
In a career that included about 70 films and dozens of TV shows, Gordon
created a gallery of mobsters, killers and creeps. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound,
broad-shouldered actor with steely blue eyes was one of the most recognized
character actors of his time.
He played a killer in the 1954 film ``Riot in Cell Block 11,'' which was
filmed in California's Folsom Prison. But Gordon was best known for wearing
the black hat in Westerns, from ``Hondo'' in 1953 to 1994's ``Maverick.''
During the 1950s and 1960s, he seemed to make an appearance on virtually
every Western TV show, from ``Bonanza'' to ``Rin Tin Tin.''
``Thank God for typecasting,'' he said in 1997 as he received the Golden
Boot award for his Western screen work.
Gordon also was a screenwriter with more than a dozen films to his credit,
ranging from 1966's ``Tobruk'' to Roger Corman's B-movie ``Attack of the
Giant Leeches.'' He also wrote ``The Cry Baby Killer,'' which was Jack
Nicholson's movie debut.
For TV, he wrote about 50 scripts for shows such as ``Bonanza'' and
``Cheyenne,'' including 21 episodes of ``Adam-12.''
Gordon was a real-life bad guy before he got into acting.
Born in Brooklyn on Dec. 2, 1922, he was raised by a single father who
struggled to make ends meet. Gordon never left New York until he joined the
Army in 1941. But ``he couldn't take rules'' and was honorably discharged
after about two years, his daughter said.
He drifted to Southern California and turned to robbery, his daughter said.
After four years in San Quentin prison, Gordon returned to New York and was
working a construction job when he decided to use his military benefits to
take acting classes.
He met his future wife, Lynn Cartwright, when she was studying acting at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and they were married in 1950.
Gordon went on to stage work and a Hollywood agent who saw the Los Angeles
production of ``Darkness at Noon'' launched his career by offering him a
role in the 1953 Western ``City of Bad Men.''
Ryan
"William J. Meyerbeck" <meye...@softhome.nocrap.net> wrote in message
news:t4lmo5q...@corp.supernews.com...
William J. Meyerbeck
no, Bruce Gordon, still alive
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Gordon,+Bruce+(II)
"Ryan" <ry...@c-zone.net> wrote in message
news:3a4c1...@news.starnetinc.com...
RWilson963
K GRAVE33
untouchables
Jim Beaver
K GRAVE33 <kgra...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001229134133...@ng-da1.aol.com...
> need to see face...i was thinking of bruce gordon who played frank nitti
on
> untouchables
Leo Gordon was Geraldine Page's abandoning husband in HONDO, the one who
tried to kick John Wayne's dog and got his 6'4" butt kicked by Wayne.
Jim Beaver