Carl Gordon (actor)
Encyclopedia
Carl Gordon was an American actor who entered the acting profession later in life and was best known for his role in the Fox TV series Roc
, in addition to a wide range of roles in film, on stage and television as a character actor.
Gordon was born Rufus Carl Gordon, Jr. in Goochland, Virginia
and was always known by his middle name. He moved with his family as a child and was raised in Brooklyn
's Bedford-Stuyvesant. He enlisted in the United States Air Force
and served during the Korean War
as an aircraft mechanic. After completing his military service, he attended Brooklyn College
but dropped out to pursue employment.
Around 1970, Gordon had been twice married and twice divorced, had been unable to complete college and had only been able to find work as a sheet-metal worker and as a stockroom clerk that didn't interest and challenge him. As recounted by The New York Times
, he fell to his knees one night and cried out "Lord, tell me what I need to do" and received the answer "Try acting". He enrolled at Gene Frankel
's Theatre and Film Workshop, where he was the oldest student and the only African American
. After many auditions, he started getting roles as a character actor on Broadway
, in film and on television. He appeared in 1967 in the national tour of Happy Ending / Day of Absence, a pair of one-act plays by Douglas Turner Ward
, and performed on stage in 30 productions by Ward's Negro Ensemble Company
.
He appeared on film in the 1984 John Sayles
movie The Brother from Another Planet
. In 1990, Gordon played the role of Doaker in August Wilson
's The Piano Lesson
, the fourth of 10 plays in his Pittsburgh Cycle. He also appeared on Broadway in the 1971 production of Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
, a musical by Melvin Van Peebles
and a 2003 production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
with Charles S. Dutton
and Whoopi Goldberg
. He appeared on television in episodes of ER
and Law & Order
.
His most notable role was on the 1991–1994 Fox
series Roc
, about an African American family in Baltimore
. Starring Dutton as Roc Emerson, the show included Gordon in the role of the title character's father Andrew, an "irascible, sharp-tongued retired train porter". Reviewer Marvin Kitman in Newsday
described Gordon's character in Roc as a "black Archie Bunker
". He gives portraits of Malcolm X
as birthday presents. He is offended that his son watches The Simpsons
because they're white and doesn't watch Cosby
. Andrew also insists that Larry Bird
can't possibly be white and play basketball as well as he does, that Bird was raised in Harlem
and his real name is Abdul Mustafa. Gordon based his character on a strong-willed uncle who owned a grocery store in Philadelphia. Episodes in the second and third season of the show were broadcast live, which didn't faze Gordon, who described the experience as being "like going back to Broadway". The decision to air live shows was made as a promotional stunt, but was enabled by the extensive stage experience of Gordon, Dutton and other cast members.
Gordon died at age 78 on July 20, 2010, at his home in Jetersville, Virginia
due to non-Hodgkin lymphoma
. He was survived by his third wife, Jacqueline Alston-Gordon, as well as by five daughters, a son, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Roc (TV series)
Roc is an American comedy-drama television series which ran on Fox from August 1991 to May 1994. The series stars Charles S. Dutton as Baltimore garbage collector Roc Emerson and Ella Joyce as his wife Eleanor.-Early episodes:...
, in addition to a wide range of roles in film, on stage and television as a character actor.
Gordon was born Rufus Carl Gordon, Jr. in Goochland, Virginia
Goochland, Virginia
Goochland is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Goochland County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 861. The community is also known as Goochland Courthouse or by an alternative spelling, Goochland Court House...
and was always known by his middle name. He moved with his family as a child and was raised in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
's Bedford-Stuyvesant. He enlisted in the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
and served during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
as an aircraft mechanic. After completing his military service, he attended Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
but dropped out to pursue employment.
Around 1970, Gordon had been twice married and twice divorced, had been unable to complete college and had only been able to find work as a sheet-metal worker and as a stockroom clerk that didn't interest and challenge him. As recounted by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, he fell to his knees one night and cried out "Lord, tell me what I need to do" and received the answer "Try acting". He enrolled at Gene Frankel
Gene Frankel
__notoc__Eugene V. "Gene" Frankel was an American actor, theater director, and acting teacher especially notable in the founding of the off-Broadway scene...
's Theatre and Film Workshop, where he was the oldest student and the only African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. After many auditions, he started getting roles as a character actor on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, in film and on television. He appeared in 1967 in the national tour of Happy Ending / Day of Absence, a pair of one-act plays by Douglas Turner Ward
Douglas Turner Ward
Douglas Turner Ward is an American playwright, actor, director and theatrical producer best known as a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company .-Biography:Turner was born in Burnside, Louisiana...
, and performed on stage in 30 productions by Ward's Negro Ensemble Company
Negro Ensemble Company
The Negro Ensemble Company is a New York City-based theater company. Established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer/actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S...
.
He appeared on film in the 1984 John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
movie The Brother from Another Planet
The Brother from Another Planet
The Brother from Another Planet is a science fiction film written, directed and edited by John Sayles. It stars Joe Morton as an extraterrestrial who has escaped to Earth and who hides in New York City.-Plot:...
. In 1990, Gordon played the role of Doaker in August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir[ing] a sense of self-worth by denying ones past"...
, the fourth of 10 plays in his Pittsburgh Cycle. He also appeared on Broadway in the 1971 production of Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, Br'er Soul, Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death and As Serious as a Heart-Attack, some of which were yet to come...
, a musical by Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin "Block" Van Peebles is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer.He is most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films...
and a 2003 production of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play - one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright - that chronicles the twentieth century African American experience...
with Charles S. Dutton
Charles S. Dutton
Charles Stanley Dutton is an American stage, film, and television actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as "Fortune" in the film Rudy and "Dillon" in Alien 3...
and Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
. He appeared on television in episodes of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
.
His most notable role was on the 1991–1994 Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
series Roc
Roc (TV series)
Roc is an American comedy-drama television series which ran on Fox from August 1991 to May 1994. The series stars Charles S. Dutton as Baltimore garbage collector Roc Emerson and Ella Joyce as his wife Eleanor.-Early episodes:...
, about an African American family in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. Starring Dutton as Roc Emerson, the show included Gordon in the role of the title character's father Andrew, an "irascible, sharp-tongued retired train porter". Reviewer Marvin Kitman in Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
described Gordon's character in Roc as a "black Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
". He gives portraits of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
as birthday presents. He is offended that his son watches The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
because they're white and doesn't watch Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...
. Andrew also insists that Larry Bird
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish...
can't possibly be white and play basketball as well as he does, that Bird was raised in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
and his real name is Abdul Mustafa. Gordon based his character on a strong-willed uncle who owned a grocery store in Philadelphia. Episodes in the second and third season of the show were broadcast live, which didn't faze Gordon, who described the experience as being "like going back to Broadway". The decision to air live shows was made as a promotional stunt, but was enabled by the extensive stage experience of Gordon, Dutton and other cast members.
Gordon died at age 78 on July 20, 2010, at his home in Jetersville, Virginia
Jetersville, Virginia
Jetersville is an unincorporated community located in Amelia County, in the U.S. state of Virginia. Jetersville was named after the French Marquis, Jesse Jeter. Jeter came to Virginia in 1889 and served as the principal veterinarian to Amelia County, primarily treating farm animals...
due to non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
The non-Hodgkin lymphomas are a diverse group of blood cancers that include any kind of lymphoma except Hodgkin's lymphomas. Types of NHL vary significantly in their severity, from indolent to very aggressive....
. He was survived by his third wife, Jacqueline Alston-Gordon, as well as by five daughters, a son, nine grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.