Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello and Bebop in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1963 for his performance in A Thousand Clowns.

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". It sold over one 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,

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's first marriage to Sally Julian, a television host, ended in divorce. He married Gail Schaper, a business psychologist, in 1993; they have two children.

Filmography

Film

  • The Girl Can't Help It (1956) - Barry the Paperboy
  • Cinderfella (1960) - Young Fella
  • Hands of a Stranger (1962) - Skeet
  • Pressure Point (1962) - Boy Patient
  • A Thousand Clowns (1965) - Nick Burns
  • The Spirit Is Willing (1967) - Steve Powell
  • Double-Stop (1968) - Art Student
  • Out of It (1969) - Paul
  • Love at First Bite (1979) - Flashlight Vendor
  • Gallavants (1984) - Edil, Bok, Gank (voices)
  • The Adventures of the American Rabbit (1986) - American Rabbit, Rob, Punk Jackal (voices)
  • Body Slam (1986) - Sheldon Brockmeister
  • Repairs (1987) - Lew the Studio Exex
  • Grüne Wüste (1999) - Alex
  • Losing Control (2011) - Frank

Television

  • The Jack Benny Program (1954–1961) - Child Jack Benny, Harry Johnson
  • The Danny Thomas Show (1956) - Herbie
  • 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
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 20: "The Day of the Bullet") - Ignace 'Iggy' Kovacs
  • Philip Marlowe (1960) - Jamie
  • Leave It to Beaver (1960) - Chopper Cooper
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 6 Episode 4: "The Contest for Aaron Gold") - Aaron Gold
  • Dennis the Menace (1960) - Buzzy Hanson
  • Thriller (1961) - Slip-Slip
  • The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1961) - Pepe
  • Dr. Kildare (1961) - Billy Hoffman
  • Arrest and Trial (1963) - Bobby Randolph
  • Summer Playhouse (1964) - Kid
  • The Smothers Brothers Show (1966) - Lester
  • Love, American Style (1969) - Bill
  • 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
  • Jabberjaw (1976) - Clamhead (voice)
  • The Practice (1976) - Dr. Byron Fisk
  • Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976–1979) - Additional voices
  • Fish (1977–1978) - Charlie Harrison
  • 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
  • The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981) - Freddy Freeman / Captain Marvel Jr. (voice)

Video games

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge - Donatello, Bebop
  • Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway - Donatello
  • Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 - Donatello

References

  • Barry Gordon Discography at Spotify.com
  • Barry Gordon Discography at Discogs.com
  • Barry Gordon presidents of the Screen Actors Guild
  • [ Barry Gordon] at the Allmusic
  • 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