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Claude Gordon

Biography

b. 5 Apr 1916, Helena, Montana, USA, d. 1996. Claude Gordon’s dance music group orchestra found prominence in 1959 once the American Federation Of Music artists, confronted with the improvements of rock and roll ‘n’ roll, attemptedto institute a large music group revival. They organised some regional heats to get the ‘greatest new music group’ of your day, with a nationwide last at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. The entire champion was Claude Gordon, whose 13-piece group (plus vocalist Darts Alexander) experienced formed a couple of years previously in LA, California. Having been mixed up in Hollywood music picture for quite some time, Gordon’s main encounter was attracted from his period as an employee musician for CBS Information. A talented trumpet participant, he previously also trained that instrument as well as the accordion in the LA Conservatory of Music. Within the 40s he previously tasted the dance music group touring encounter by dealing with performers including Matty Malneck, Ronnie Kemper and Frankie Experts. The incentive for winning your competition was a fresh suite of tools, a recording agreement with Alma Information, a network tv opening, along with a coastline to coastline tour. The organisers also organized for the group to become handled by Frank Motte, who experienced previously led the professions of both Benny Goodman and Harry Wayne, while Billy May was used on as arranger. Despite each one of these great auspices, the Claude Gordon Orchestra discovered itself struggling to prosper when confronted with music market and general public apathy towards dance rings within the 60s. Ultimately Gordon came back to teaching music full-time, even though band was sometimes reunited for one-off schedules in California.

Quick Facts


Full Name Claude Gordon
Died May 16, 1996, Big Bear Lake, California, United States
Profession Conductor, Trumpeter
Nationality American


  • Facts
  • Filmography
  • Awards
  • Salaries
  • Quotes
  • Trademarks
  • Pictures

#Fact
1 Before acting he was a limestone salesman.
2 Father Ernest was a former stonecutter who later became a policeman; his mother's name was Maude. He had an older sister named Hazel. The family moved from his native Nelson, Georgia to Bedford, Indiana when Claude was six months old.
3 First performed at the age of 5 in a church play in which he played a bird.
4 Trained at the Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia in the late 1940s and toured in such shows as "The Hasty Heart" and "The Comedy of Errors".
5 Majored in speech and theater at Northwestern University.
6 Made his Broadway debut in a small, uncredited role in "The Rose Tattoo" in 1951, and is not listed in ibdb.com for any roles on Broadway.
7 Invested well in later years in a shopping center in the San Fernando Valley and in a 69-house development in Vista, California.
8 During the 1980's and 90's Claude Akins did many television commercials as the spokesmen for AAMCO transmission, with the slogan "Double A, [honk, honk], M, C, O".
9 Served in the US Army Signal Corps during World War II.
10 Played chess with his friend, William Windom.
11 Those who remember him for the many villains he played, especially early in his career, might be surprised to know that his father was a police officer in Claude's home town of Bedford, Indiana.
12 He has an entry in Jean Tulard's "Dictionnaire du cinéma/Les acteurs" published in Paris in 2007 by Robert Laffont/Bouquins, pg. 17 (ISBN: 978-2-221-10895-6).
13 He was always very friendly to everyone and was very gracious in signing every autograph request.
14 A lifelong golfer, he played in a lot of pro-am golf tournaments for various charities right up until his death, including the Vantage Championship Pro-Am at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, North Carolina, in the early 1990s. He was a close friend and golfing partner of another golf fanatic and veteran movie heavy, Robert J. Wilke.
15 Graduate of Northwestern University.


Actor

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Flap 1970 Lobo Jackson
A Man Called Sledge 1970 Hooker
The Great Bank Robbery 1969 Slade
The Outsider 1968 TV Series Detective Keller
The Devil's Brigade 1968 Pvt. Rocky Rockman
Garrison's Gorillas 1968 TV Series Colonel Pryor
Judd for the Defense 1967 TV Series Calvin Wolf
Hondo 1967 TV Series Brock
Waterhole #3 1967 Sgt. Henry Foggers
The Guns of Will Sonnett 1967 TV Series Turnbaugh
Laredo 1966-1967 TV Series Cotton Buckmeister
Combat! 1966-1967 TV Series Rosie / Charlie Pelton / Mastin
The Lucy Show 1967 TV Series Lt. Finch
First to Fight 1967 Capt. Mason
Return of the Magnificent Seven 1966 Frank
The Monroes 1966 TV Series Bud Chapel
Hazel 1966 TV Series Milwaukee Ames
Incident at Phantom Hill 1966 Krausman
The Legend of Jesse James 1966 TV Series Harte
Ride Beyond Vengeance 1966 Elwood Coates
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 1965 TV Series El Supremo
The Big Valley 1965 TV Series Callahan
The Virginian 1962-1965 TV Series Hezekiah / Lump
The Trials of O'Brien 1965 TV Series Glen Daley
A Man Called Shenandoah 1965 TV Series Fordy Brown
Rawhide 1960-1965 TV Series Jerry Boggs / Aloysius Claybank / Sergeant Parker / ...
Slattery's People 1965 TV Series Dr. Roy Kirk
Daniel Boone 1965 TV Series Toka
Branded 1965 TV Series Ned Travis
Mr. Novak 1964 TV Series Lou Myerson
Kraft Suspense Theatre 1964 TV Series Sergeant Henning
The Killers 1964 Earl Sylvester
A Distant Trumpet 1964 Seely Jones
The Fugitive 1964 TV Series Ralph Simmons
Destry 1964 TV Series Deputy Sheriff Rafe Collins
The Great Adventure 1963 TV Series Father Kranz
Laramie 1960-1963 TV Series Britt Walker / Sheriff Tyler Shaw / Jim Dark / ...
Empire 1962-1963 TV Series Joe Horvath
The Dakotas 1963 TV Series Tom Doucette
The Dick Powell Theatre 1963 TV Series Police Lieutenant
The Untouchables 1960-1963 TV Series Vince Majesky / Karl Hansa / Jake 'Dodo' Ryan
Alcoa Premiere 1963 TV Series Captain Michael 'Gunner' Lujack
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 1962 TV Series Sheriff Jordan
Wide Country 1962 TV Series Bullriver
Bonanza 1960-1962 TV Series Col. Edward J. Dunwoody / Sam Hill / Ezekiel / ...
Black Gold 1962 Chick Carrington
The Twilight Zone 1960-1962 TV Series Cmdr. William Fletcher / Steve Brand
Outlaws 1962 TV Series Sgt. Ben Thompson
Merrill's Marauders 1962 Sgt. Kolowicz
Bus Stop 1962 TV Series Harry Stumbo
Frontier Circus 1962 TV Series Powcheek
The Roaring 20's 1961 TV Series Mitch Mitchell / Capt. Maples
Surfside 6 1960-1961 TV Series Harry Lodge / Mike Hogan
Wagon Train 1957-1961 TV Series Will Cotrell / Wes Varney / Garth Redmond / ...
Tales of Wells Fargo 1957-1961 TV Series Rake / John L. Sullivan / John Leslie Nagel / ...
Route 66 1961 TV Series Cam Bludge
Claudelle Inglish 1961 S.T. Crawford
The Deputy 1961 TV Series Jason Getty
Zane Grey Theater 1956-1961 TV Series Deputy Chuck Wagner / Simmy, the Comanchero / Sheriff Adam Prescott / ...
Shirley Temple's Storybook 1961 TV Series Peg-leg the Pirate
Riverboat 1959-1960 TV Series Beaudry Rawlins / Jarret Sutton
Dan Raven 1960 TV Series Sarge
Klondike 1960 TV Series John Conrad
The Tall Man 1960 TV Series Dan Rees
The Rifleman 1958-1960 TV Series Bletch Droshek / Tom Benton / Floyd Doniger
The Rebel 1960 TV Series Tom Hall
Death Valley Days 1960 TV Series Caleb
Inherit the Wind 1960 Rev. Jeremiah Brown
The Alaskans 1960 TV Series Constable Watts
Wanted: Dead or Alive 1960 TV Series Jack Kelly
Overland Trail 1960 TV Series Jumbo
Adventures in Paradise 1960 TV Series Sam Kayle
Pony Express 1960 TV Series
Law of the Plainsman 1960 TV Series Sheriff Clifford Shaw
Comanche Station 1960 Ben Lane
The Texan 1959 TV Series Clay Fallon
Yellowstone Kelly 1959 Sergeant
Hound-Dog Man 1959 Hog Peyson
Don't Give Up the Ship 1959 Lt. Cmdr. Farber
Porgy and Bess 1959 Detective
Bat Masterson 1959 TV Series Jack Fontana
The Loretta Young Show 1959 TV Series Robert Wilson / Carl Hodges / Matt Malone
Steve Canyon 1959 TV Series Sgt. Brecker
Yancy Derringer 1958-1959 TV Series Toby Cook
Rio Bravo 1959 Joe Burdette
The Restless Gun 1957-1959 TV Series Matt Pierce / Lex Springer / Rafe Marlowe / ...
77 Sunset Strip 1959 TV Series Ed Bird
General Electric Theater 1954-1958 TV Series Dave Blackby / Duke Williams / Steve Crawford
Northwest Passage 1958 TV Series Calib Brandt
Onionhead 1958 Poznicki
Bronco 1958 TV Series Dirk Baggot
The Defiant Ones 1958 Mack
Schlitz Playhouse 1954-1958 TV Series Gus Garner
Cheyenne 1958 TV Series Sheriff Bob Walters
Richard Diamond, Private Detective 1958 TV Series Kenny Lambert
Maverick 1958 TV Series Paisley Briggs
Perry Mason 1958 TV Series Det. Sgt. Phillip Dix
Climax! 1958 TV Series
The Adventures of Jim Bowie 1956-1958 TV Series Miciah 'Big' Hart / Manion
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre 1957-1958 TV Series Joe Doby / Frank Hedley
The Lineup 1954-1958 TV Series Roy Gilman / Ed Long
State Trooper 1956-1957 TV Series Janskey / The Rodeo Clown
Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1956-1957 TV Series Cop
Studio 57 1955-1957 TV Series Al / Martin
Boots and Saddles 1957 TV Series
The Adventures of McGraw 1957 TV Series Jim Bennett
Have Gun - Will Travel 1957 TV Series Dever
Joe Dakota 1957 Aaron Grant
Code 3 1957 TV Series Dred Emmis
The Lonely Man 1957 Blackburn (as Claude A. Akins)
The Silent Service 1957 TV Series Herndon
Whirlybirds 1957 TV Series Roger Bronson / Reporter Bronson
The Sheriff of Cochise 1957 TV Series Harry Clegg
The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm 1957 Pete Logan
Hot Summer Night 1957 Truck Driver
The 20th Century-Fox Hour 1957 TV Series Anton Budenieff
The Sharkfighters 1956 Chief 'Gordy' Gordon
Crusader 1956 TV Series Glenn / Swain
The Burning Hills 1956 Ben Hindeman
Johnny Concho 1956 Lem
The Proud and Profane 1956 Big Soldier (uncredited)
My Friend Flicka 1955-1956 TV Series August Hoskins / Keenak / Matt Scott
Adventures of Superman 1956 TV Series Ace Miller
Star Stage 1955-1956 TV Series Henley, the Rodeo Clown
Battle Stations 1956 Marty Brennan
Frontier 1956 TV Series Bud
Johnny Moccasin 1956 TV Movie BillAmes
You Are There 1953-1955 TV Series Fireman / Lewis Paine / Mob participant
Big Town 1955 TV Series
Man with the Gun 1955 Jim Reedy (uncredited)
The Millionaire 1955 TV Series Sgt. Mike Harden
Lux Video Theatre 1955 TV Series Mandy
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse 1954-1955 TV Series Pete Nemeck / Saracki / Carl
The Sea Chase 1955 Winkler (as Claude Akin)
Fireside Theatre 1955 TV Series John West
TV Reader's Digest 1955 TV Series Dupont / Casco
Treasury Men in Action 1954-1955 TV Series
Soldiers of Fortune 1955 TV Series Jonu
The Man Behind the Badge 1955 TV Series Frederick John 'Freddie' Webster / Tony
City Detective 1954 TV Series Hardy
The Adventures of Hajji Baba 1954 Chief Executioner's Aide (uncredited)
The Human Jungle 1954 George Mandy
Medic 1954 TV Series Dr. Vincente
Down Three Dark Streets 1954 Matty Pavelich
Shield for Murder 1954 Fat Michaels
The Raid 1954 Lt. Ramsey (uncredited)
The Caine Mutiny 1954 Seaman Lugatch aka 'Horrible'
Witness to Murder 1954 Police Officer (uncredited)
Dragnet 1954 TV Series Sgt. Jack McCreadie / Ellis
Bitter Creek 1954 Vance Morgan - Henchman
From Here to Eternity 1953 Sgt. 'Baldy' Dhom (uncredited)
The Search 1994 TV Short
Twisted Fear 1994 Detective Lucky Douglas
Seasons of the Heart 1993 Pastor William Clay
Eerie, Indiana 1992 TV Series Bank Robber / Grungy Bill
Grass Roots 1992 TV Movie Sheriff
Falling from Grace 1992 Speck Parks
Incident at Victoria Falls 1992 TV Movie Theodore Roosevelt
Where Evil Lives 1991 Jack Devlin
In the Heat of the Night 1991 TV Series Benjamin Sloan
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw 1991 TV Movie President Theodore Roosevelt
Hunter 1989 TV Series Andy Polanski
Mothers, Daughters and Lovers 1989 TV Movie Kibby
Matlock 1989 TV Series Sam Taylor
Pushed Too Far 1988 Sheriff Jim Forrest
If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium 1987 TV Movie Mo Wyshocki
The Curse 1987 Nathan
The New Mike Hammer 1987 TV Series Charlie Doureay
Manhunt for Claude Dallas 1986 TV Movie Bill Pogue
Monster in the Closet 1986 Sheriff Sam Ketchem
Dream West 1986 TV Mini-Series Tom Fitzpatrick
Crazy Like a Fox 1986 TV Series
Tall Tales & Legends 1986 TV Series Grandpa / Narrator
Hotel 1985 TV Series Tyler Evans / Joe Lindstrom
Murder, She Wrote 1984 TV Series Capt. Ethan Cragg Captain Ethan Cragg
The Love Boat 1983-1984 TV Series Cappy / Colonel Maddox
The Baron and the Kid 1984 TV Movie Harley Medford
Legmen 1984 TV Series Tom Bannon
Masquerade 1984 TV Series
The Master 1984 TV Series Mr. Trumbull
Celebrity 1984 TV Mini-Series Uncle Bun Luther
Desperate Intruder 1983 TV Movie Carl
Bus Stop 1982 TV Movie Sheriff Will
Darkroom 1981 TV Series Bert Haskell
Fantasy Island 1981 TV Series Calvin Pearson
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo 1979-1981 TV Series Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo
B.J. and the Bear 1978-1979 TV Series Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo Sheriff Lobo
Concrete Cowboys 1979 TV Series Woody Stone
Ebony, Ivory and Jade 1979 TV Movie Joe Blair
The Country Western Murders 1979 TV Movie Billy West
Little Mo 1978 TV Movie Gus Berste
Police Story 1973-1978 TV Series Officer Charles Stacy / Sergeant R.C. Pickett / Ken Shaner
Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo 1977 TV Movie Bert Springer
The Rhinemann Exchange 1977 TV Mini-Series Walter Kendall
The Oregon Trail 1977 TV Series Lemus Harker
Killer on Board 1977 TV Movie Oscar Billingham
Tentacles 1977 Sheriff Robards
Yesterday's Child 1977 TV Movie Cliff Henley
Kiss Me, Kill Me 1976 TV Movie Harry Grant
Movin' On 1974-1976 TV Series Sonny Pruitt
Timber Tramps 1975 Matt
Eric 1975 TV Movie Stanley 'Stan' Swenson
Medical Story 1975 TV Movie Dr. Matthews
Toma 1974 TV Series Bernie Travlos
Mannix 1974 TV Series Sgt. Al Reardon
McCloud 1974 TV Series Sheriff Floyd Bevins
The Streets of San Francisco 1974 TV Series Bob Mason
The Wide World of Mystery 1974 TV Series Styran
The Death Squad 1974 TV Movie Connie Brennan
Marcus Welby, M.D. 1973 TV Series Jim Randall
Cannon 1973 TV Series Lt. Bill Blaine
Medical Center 1973 TV Series Williams
The Rookies 1973 TV Series Buck Sanborn
Battle for the Planet of the Apes 1973 General Aldo
Barnaby Jones 1973 TV Series Eli Rile
The Norliss Tapes 1973 TV Movie Sheriff Tom Hartley
Mission: Impossible 1973 TV Series Sam Hibbing
Hec Ramsey 1973 TV Series Marshal Bert McCabe
Love, American Style 1972 TV Series Fizik (segment "Love and the First Kiss")
Skyjacked 1972 Sgt. Ben Puzo
The F.B.I. 1965-1972 TV Series Jason Peale / Ben Gambriella
Gunsmoke 1955-1972 TV Series Howard Kane / Worth Sweeney / Marshal Clint Tucker / ...
Longstreet 1972 TV Series Flecker
The Night Stalker 1972 TV Movie Sheriff Butcher
McMillan & Wife 1972 TV Series Freddie O'Neal
River of Mystery 1971 TV Movie Ernie Dorata
Lock, Stock and Barrel 1971 TV Movie Punck Logan

Thanks

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Twisted Fear 1994 dedicated to the memory of

Self

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Hollywood Beat 1993 TV Series Himself, guest
Academy of Country Music's 20th Anniversary Reunion 1986 TV Special Himself
The Way They Were 1981 TV Special
All-Star Salute to Mother's Day 1981 TV Special Himself
Bob Hope's All-Star Look at TV's Prime Time Wars 1980 Himself
The Mike Douglas Show 1977-1980 TV Series Himself - Actor
The 6th People's Choice Awards 1980 TV Special Himself - Audience Member
Dinah! 1975-1976 TV Series Himself
I Love Lucy 1956 TV Series Himself

Archive Footage

Archive Footage

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Matlock 1991 TV Series Sam Taylor
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1981 TV Series Himself from NBC Special BOB HOPE'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY
B.J. and the Bear 1979 TV Series Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo
Gunfight at Black Horse Canyon 1961 TV Movie Rake
The Gun of Zangara 1960 TV Movie Jake "Dodo" Ryan (uncredited)
Frontier Rangers 1959 Caleb Brandt (uncredited)

Looks like we don't have awards information. Sorry!


TitleSalary
The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979) $50,000 per 1 hour episode

#Quote
1 [on his role in From Here to Eternity (1953)] My first scene on film was where I walk into the office and report Private Prewitt absent to Sergeant Warden, played by Burt Lancaster -- and I was scared to death. Burt was one of the big stars of that era, but still very nice. Fred Zinnemann, the director, was extremely patient and understanding. And somehow I got through it. My panic has always been the time right up to the end of my first scene. Once that first shot is in the can, I'm home free.
2 I was very fortunate that I get paid for what I love to do. I know a lot of good actors who simply can't find work. Every time I get a job, I say to myself, 'You've beaten the odds.'
3 Between the war movies I've been in and the heavies I've played, I have about 1,000 dead behind me. I've been killed a good many times, but I took a lot of guys with me.


Looks like we don't have trademarks information. Sorry!

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