Barry Gordon

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American actor, voice actor, singer, and political talk show hostTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actor, voice actor, singer, and political talk show host[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

**Barry Gordon** (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor, voice actor, singer and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995.

## Early life

Gordon was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States. His stepfather, Bob Manning, was a crooner of popular love songs in the 1940s and 1950s, most known for his rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You".

## Acting

### Childhood career

Gordon began performing at age three; in his television debut, he won second place on Ted Mack's *Amateur Hour* singing Johnnie Ray's "Cry". At six, Gordon recorded "Nuttin' for Christmas". He was the youngest performer ever to hit a pre-Hot 100 Billboard chart when that song hit No. 6 in 1955. It sold over 1 million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The next year, he charted his second and final single "Rock Around Mother Goose." In circa 1956, Bill Haley recorded a private demo recording "Six Year Olds Can Rock and Roll." He begins the recording (released in 1990) by dedicating it to Barry Gordon.

As a child actor, Gordon also appeared on *The Jackie Gleason Show,* *The Jack Benny Program,* *Richard Diamond, Private Detective*, *The Danny Thomas Show*, *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and *Star Time* with Benny Goodman. Gordon was cast as Humberto in an episode of the sitcom *Sally*, starring Joan Caulfield, and as Chopper in *Leave It to Beaver* (episode 119: "Beaver's House Guest"). Gordon guest starred on the sitcoms *The Ann Sothern Show* and *Dennis the Menace*.

In 1962, Barry played the part of the childhood version of the Patient in "Pressure Point." At 13, Gordon began a career on Broadway as Nick in Herb Gardner's *A Thousand Clowns*, a role for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. He later reprised that role in the film version opposite Jason Robards and Martin Balsam in 1965. The film gave him "introducing" billing, but he had actually been in several films already, most notably his actual film debut in 1956's *The Girl Can't Help It* as a newspaper boy in which he uttered the line after seeing Jayne Mansfield: "If that's a girl, I don't know what my sister is."

As a teen, Gordon starred alongside Sid Caesar and Vera Miles in the 1967 comedy-horror film *The Spirit Is Willing*. In the 1970s, Gordon appeared in the *Barney Miller* spin-off *Fish*, starring Abe Vigoda, and from 1973 to 1974 was a regular on *The New Dick Van Dyke Show*. He also played an uncredited role as a waiter in an episode of *Kolchak: The Night Stalker*, titled "Horror in the Heights", in 1974. In 1976, he appeared in an episode of *The Practice*.Template:Citation needed

### Character actor

Primarily as a character actor, Gordon became a familiar face in numerous feature films and television series. In the last two seasons of the sitcom *Archie Bunker's Place*, Gordon had the recurring role of Gary Rabinowitz, Archie's Jewish attorney. Gordon also had notable guest-starring roles on *Barney Miller* as an embezzler, on *Fish* as a social worker, on *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* as a Ferengi businessman, and on *Star Trek: Voyager* as Ardon Broht, an alien publisher. More recently, Gordon has appeared as the Rabbi in Larry David's *Curb Your Enthusiasm*.

### Voice work

Gordon worked extensively as a voice actor. His most notable voice roles were Donatello and Bebop in *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*, and as Jake "Razor" Clawson in *SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron* (1993). Gordon's voice was also featured in other animated series Mostly Hanna-Barbera shows such as *Jabberjaw* (as Clamhead), *Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle*, *The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!* (as Captain Marvel Jr.), *Meatballs & Spaghetti* (as bassist Clyde), *Pac-Man* (as Inky), *Mighty Orbots* (as Robert Simmons), *Pole Position*, *The Jetsons*, *The Smurfs*, *The Adventures of the American Rabbit* (as the titular character), *Superman*, *Snorks* (as Junior Wetworth), *Gravedale High* (as Reggie Moonshroud), *Space Cats*, *A Pup Named Scooby-Doo* (as Englebert Newton), *Darkwing Duck* (as Dr. Fossil), *Tom & Jerry Kids* and its spin-off *Droopy, Master Detective*, *Batman: The Animated Series* (as the Penguin's henchman Sheldrake), *Aaahh!!! Real Monsters*, *Timon & Pumbaa*, *Fantastic Max*, and *The Pirates of Dark Water*. Gordon also provided the voice of "Quicky" the Nesquik Bunny in television commercials for Nestlé.

In May 2009, Gordon played the Cocker Spaniel in the Webkinz Pet of the Month Music Video for May 2009.

Gordon reprised the roles as the original Donatello and Bebop in three seasons of Nickelodeon's *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*.

## Other pursuits

In his mid-30s, Gordon returned to school; he graduated summa cum laude as a political science major from California State University, Los Angeles and went on to Loyola Law School, receiving his J.D. in 1991.

Gordon became the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, holding the office for seven years.

In 1998, Gordon was the Democratic Party nominee for the United States Congress from the Pasadena, California area. He surprised political pundits of both parties by coming within three points of unseating the Republican Party incumbent James Rogan.

In 2004, when the local Air America Radio affiliate in Los Angeles went off the air, for a then-unspecified period of time, Gordon started a live, call-in progressive political talk show on Pasadena's public-access television cable TV channel 56. It continues to be cablecast and webcast live

In 2005, Gordon hosted a weekly radio talk show heard on KRLA in Los Angeles, California.

In 2006 and early 2007, Gordon hosted *Barry Gordon from Left Field*, a weekly talk show broadcast throughout the 25th largest U.S. radio market—the San Bernardino/Riverside region of Southern California—on KCAA Radio in Loma Linda, California. With live streams and podcast archives, the show was notable for featuring nationally known guests, including senators, congressmen, bestselling authors, and entertainment figures.

Since 2007, Gordon has taught courses in politics and the media at the California State University, Los Angeles.

In 2008, Gordon debuted his daily Internet talk show *Left Talk* on BlogTalkRadio.

## Personal life

Gordon married Sally Julin; the marriage ended in a divorce. He married Gail Schaoer in 1993. They have two children.

## Filmography

### Live-action

* *The Jack Benny Program* (1954–1961) - Child Jack Benny, Harry Johnson
* *The Danny Thomas Show* (1956) - Herbie
* *The Girl Can't Help It* (1956) - Barry the Paperboy
* *Sally* (1957) - Humberto
* *The Ann Sothern Show* (1958) - Donald Carpenter
* *General Electric Theater* (1959) - Etienne
* *Richard Diamond, Private Detective* (1959) - Tommy
* *Start Time* (1959) - Larry
* *Cinderfella* (1960) - Young Fella
* *Philip Marlowe* (1960) - Jamie
* *Leave It to Beaver* (1960) - Chopper Cooper
* *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1960) - Aaron Gold, Ignace Kovacs
* *Dennis the Menace* (1960) - Buzzy Hanson
* *Thriller* (1961) - Slip-Slip
* *The DuPont Show with June Allyson* (1961) - Pepe
* *Dr. Kildare* (1961) - Billy Hoffman
* *Hands of a Stranger* (1962) - Skeet
* *Pressure Point* (1962) - Boy Patient
* *Arrest and Trial* (1963) - Bobby Randolph
* *Summer Playhouse* (1964) - Kid
* *A Thousand Clowns* (1965) - Nick Burns
* *The Smothers Brothers Show* (1966) - Lester
* *The Spirit Is Willing* (1967) - Steve Powell
* *Double-Stop* (1968) - Art Student
* *Love, American Style* (1969) - Bill
* *Out of It* (1969) - Paul
* *The Don Rickles Show* (1972) - Conrad Musk
* *The New Dick Van Dyke Show* (1973–1974) - Dennis Whitehead
* *Mannix* (1974) - Todd Corvin
* *Kolchak: The Night Stalker* (1974) - Barry the Waiter
* *The Bob Crane Show* (1975) - Gordon
* *Good Heavens* (1976) - Harold
* *The Practice* (1976) - Dr. Byron Fisk
* *Fish* (1977–1978) - Carlie Harrison
* *Love at First Bite* (1979) - Flashlight Vendor
* *The Incredible Hulk* (1979) - Harold Milburn
* *Supertrain* (1979) - Billy
* *Barney Miller* (1979–1982) - David Fingler, Stanley Fine
* *Three's Company* (1980) - Gilbert Larwin
* *Mr. & Mrs. Dracula* (1980) - Cousin Anton
* *Good Time Harry* (1980) - Stan
* *I'm a Big Girl Now* (1981) - Jerry
* *Warp Speed* (1981) - David Ingalls
* *Time Warp* (1981) - M.U.D. (voice)
* *The Perfect Woman* (1981) - Emo
* *Archie Bunker's Place* (1981–1983) - Gary Rabinowitz
* *Stark: Mirror Image* (1986) - Lee Vogel
* *Body Slam* (1987) - Sheldon Brockmeister
* *Throb* (1987) - Josh
* *Repairs* (1987) - Lew the Studio Exex
* *CBS Summer Playhouse* (1988) - Newton Hobbs
* *A Family for Joe* (1990) - Roger Hightower
* *His & Hers* (1990) - Bruno Chernak
* *The Object of Beauty* (1991) - Auctioneer
* *Civil Wars* (1992–1993) - Mel Wittnauer
* *Star Trek: Deep Space Nine* (1993) - Nava
* *L.A. Law* (1993–1994) - Seth Shumay
* *NYPD Blue* (1994–2000) - Preston Ross, Dr. Berger, Philip Fox
* *Empty Nest* (1995) - Earl
* *Over the Top* (1997) - Marty
* *Caroline in the City* (1998) - Rabbi Katz
* *Arli$$* (1999) - Doctor
* *Grüne Wüste* (1999) - Alex
* *The Hughleys* (1999–2000) - The Judge
* *Star Trek: Voyager* (2001) - Arden Broht
* *Becker* (2002) - Mr. Levin
* *Dragnet* (2003) - Alan Sperry
* *Curb Your Enthusiasm* (2004–2005) - Rabbi
* *Losing Control* (2011) - Frank
* *Brothers & Sisters* (2011) - Rabbi
* *Forked Up* (2015) - Mr. Goodman
* *NewsRap* (2018–2019) - Host

### Animation

* *Jabberjaw* (1976) - Clamhead
* *Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle* (1976–1979) - Additional voices
* *The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam!* (1981) - Freddy Freeman / Captain Marvel Jr.
* *Meatballs & Spaghetti* (1982–1983) - Clyde
* *Pac-Man* (1982–1983) - Inky
* *Christmas Comes to Pac-Land* (1982) - Inky
* *Mighty Orbots* (1984) - Robert Simmons
* *Gallavants* (1984) - Edil, Bok, Gauk
* *Pole Position* (1984) - Additional voices
* *Snorks* (1984–1988) - Junior Wetworth
* *The Jetsons* (1985) - Tiny Terror, Betting Machine, Lenny Lase, Mechanic, Sneak
* *The Smurfs* (1985) - The Gamemster, Additional voices
* *The Adventures of the American Rabbit* (1986) - American Rabbit, Rob, Punk Jackal
* *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* (1987–1996) - Donatello, Bebop, Additional voices
* *Superman* (1988) - Additional voices
* *Gravedale High* (1990) - Reggie Moonshroud
* *Darkwing Duck* (1991) - Dr. Fossil
* *Space Cats* (1991) - Incidental characters
* *A Pup Named Scooby-Doo* (1991) - Englebert Newton
* *Tom & Jerry Kids* (1992) - Additional voices
* *Droopy, Master Detective* (1993) - Additional voices
* *Batman: The Animated Series* (1993) - Sheldrake
* *SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron* (1993–1994) - Razor, Jake Clawson, Evil Razor
* *The Pink Panther* (1995) - Bongo Cereal Founder
* *Aaahh!!! Real Monsters* (1997) - Nerdy Monster, Korbutokov
* *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* (2012–2017) - '87 Donatello, '87 Bebop

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## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Template:Cite book
2. ↑ Template:Cite AV media notes
3. ↑ Template:Cite episode
4. ↑ Template:Cite book
5. ↑ Bill Haley & His Comets, "Six Year Olds Can Rock and Roll" (1956), *The Decca Years and More* (Bear Family Records, BCD 15506, 1990)
6. ↑ https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/gordon-barry-1948
7. ↑ https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/gordon-barry-1948
8. ↑ "Find Out About Dr. Gail Schaper-Gordon". https://gailschapergordon.com/about-gail/.

## External links

* Barry Gordon presidents of the Screen Actors Guild
* [[[:Template:Allmusic]] Barry Gordon] at the Allmusic
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* *NewsRap with Barry Gordon* Flash video archives
* *BarryTalk.com*, Barry Gordon's website, with links to live shows and archives of his radio, cable television, and Internet talk shows
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