Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Leo Gordon(1922-2000)

  • Actor
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Leo Gordon
Trailer for Alienator
Play trailer2:09
Alienator (1990)
4 Videos
22 Photos
Big, burly character actor, one of the toughest of screen heavies. New York-born Leo Gordon's combination of a powerful physique, deep, menacing voice and icy, withering glare was guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of even the bravest screen hero. Director Don Siegel, who used Gordon in his prison film Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), once said that "Leo Gordon was the scariest man I have ever met"--this coming from a man who had directed John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Bette Midler! Siegel wasn't talking about just Gordon's screen presence. As a "heavy", Gordon was the real deal--before becoming an actor (he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Gordon served five years in San Quentin State Prison for armed robbery (during which he was shot several times point-blank by police--and survived). "Riot in Cell Block 11" was filmed at Folsom State Prison--where Gordon also served time--and the Folsom warden remembered him as a troublemaker.At first he refused to allow the film to be shot there if Gordon was to be in it, but Siegel was able to convince him that Gordon was no threat to the prison.

Contrary to his image, though, Gordon was not just a one-note villain. He did play sympathetic parts on occasion, notably in the western Black Patch (1957)--which he also wrote--and in Roger Corman's civil rights drama The Intruder (1962), and turned in first-rate performances, especially in the latter film. Gordon was also a screenwriter, turning out several screenplays for Corman. He wasn't just limited to writing low-budget sci-fi films, either; he penned the screenplay for the WWII epic Tobruk (1967), writing in a meaty part for himself as Kruger, a tough sergeant in a platoon of German Jews masquerading as Nazi soldiers to help blow up a German oil storage facility.

Leo Gordon died in Los Angeles, CA, in 2000 at age 78 of heart failure.
BornDecember 2, 1922
DiedDecember 26, 2000(78)
BornDecember 2, 1922
DiedDecember 26, 2000(78)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win

Photos22

Neville Brand, Leo Gordon, Dabbs Greer, and Alvy Moore in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Leo Gordon in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Neville Brand, Joel Fluellen, Leo Gordon, Alvy Moore, and Robert Osterloh in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Neville Brand and Leo Gordon in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Paul Frees and Leo Gordon in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Neville Brand, Leo Gordon, and Dabbs Greer in Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Leo Gordon, Tom Tully, and George D. Wallace in Soldier of Fortune (1955)
Mickey Rooney and Leo Gordon in Baby Face Nelson (1957)
Leo Gordon in Far Out Space Nuts (1975)
Leo Gordon in Hondo (1953)
Lee Van Cleef, Richard Boone, and Leo Gordon in Ten Wanted Men (1955)
James Anderson and Leo Gordon in The Virginian (1962)

Known for

Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, and James Garner in Maverick (1994)
Maverick
7.0
  • Poker Player(as Leo V. Gordon)
  • 1994
My Name Is Nobody (1973)
My Name Is Nobody
7.3
  • Red
  • 1973
The Case of the Dangerous Robin (1960)
The Case of the Dangerous Robin
8.1
TV Series
  • Writer
Lon Chaney Jr., Vincent Price, and Debra Paget in The Haunted Palace (1963)
The Haunted Palace
6.7
  • Edgar Weeden
  • Ezra Weeden
  • 1963

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (2002)
    The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
    • Wyatt Earp
    • TV Series
    • 1999
  • The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Hollywood Follies (1994)
    The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Hollywood Follies
    • Wyatt Earp
    • TV Movie
    • 1994
  • Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, and James Garner in Maverick (1994)
    Maverick
    • Poker Player (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1994
  • Michael Ironside, Jonathan Brandis, and Roy Scheider in SeaQuest 2032 (1993)
    SeaQuest 2032
    • Matt Smith (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1994
  • Morgan Fairchild, Eddie Deezen, William Hickey, and Stuart Whitman in Mob Boss (1990)
    Mob Boss
    • Don O'Reily
    • Video
    • 1990
  • Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Banks, and Ken Wahl in Wiseguy (1987)
    Wiseguy
    • Charlie Boden (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1990
  • Jan-Michael Vincent, Ross Hagen, John Phillip Law, Dyana Ortelli, and Joseph Pilato in Alienator (1990)
    Alienator
    • Col. Coburn (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1990
  • War and Remembrance (1988)
    War and Remembrance
    • Gen. Omar Bradley (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Mini Series
    • 1989
  • Saturday the 14th Strikes Back (1988)
    Saturday the 14th Strikes Back
    • The Evil One (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1988
  • Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
    Big Top Pee-wee
    • Joe - Blacksmith (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1988
  • Denzel Washington, Ed Begley Jr., David Morse, Howie Mandel, Cynthia Sikes, Ellen Bry, William Daniels, and Ed Flanders in St. Elsewhere (1982)
    St. Elsewhere
    • Bjorn Johnston (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1987–1988
  • Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting (1985)
    Moonlighting
    • Warden Cosgrove (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1987
  • The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)
    The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
    • Guard #1 (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1987
  • Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I. (1980)
    Magnum, P.I.
    • Croquet Player (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1987
  • Gene Autry, Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, Ken Curtis, James Drury, Leo Gordon, Merle Haggard, Benton Jennings, Waylon Jennings, Clint Walker, and Michael Goggans in The All American Cowboy (1985)
    The All American Cowboy
    • TV Movie
    • 1985

Writer

  • The Wasp Woman (1995)
    The Wasp Woman
    • Writer (1960 screenplay)
    • TV Movie
    • 1995
  • Sonny Shroyer and Samuel E. Wright in Enos (1980)
    Enos
    • Writer
    • TV Series
    • 1981
  • Kim Basinger in Dog and Cat (1977)
    Dog and Cat
    • written by
    • TV Series
    • 1977
  • Bravo Two
    • writer
    • TV Movie
    • 1977
  • Maenak America
    • Writer
    • 1975
  • Kent McCord and Martin Milner in Adam-12 (1968)
    Adam-12
    • written by (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • TV Series
    • 1971–1975
  • Charles Bronson, Tony Curtis, and Michèle Mercier in You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
    You Can't Win 'Em All
    • written by (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1970
  • Jackie Russell in All the Loving Couples (1969)
    All the Loving Couples
    • novel
    • screenplay
    • 1969
  • The Adventurers
    • Writer (1968)
    • TV Series
    • 1968
  • George Peppard, Rock Hudson, Nigel Green, and Guy Stockwell in Tobruk (1967)
    Tobruk
    • written by (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1967
  • Dan Duryea, Rod Cameron, and Audrey Dalton in The Bounty Killer (1965)
    The Bounty Killer
    • Writer
    • 1965
  • Bonanza (1959)
    Bonanza
    • written by
    • TV Series
    • 1963–1965
  • Boris Karloff in The Terror (1963)
    The Terror
    • screenplay by
    • 1963
  • Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)
    Hawaiian Eye
    • story
    • writer
    • TV Series
    • 1961–1963
  • Tower of London (1962)
    Tower of London
    • screen play
    • story (as Leo V. Gordon)
    • 1962

Videos4

Trailer
Trailer 1:47
Trailer
Alienator
Trailer 2:09
Alienator
Bonnie's Kids
Trailer 0:53
Bonnie's Kids
Cheyenne: The Outlander
Trailer 1:24
Cheyenne: The Outlander

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Facebook [Tara Gordon]
  • Alternative name
    • Leo V. Gordon
  • Height
    • 6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
  • Born
    • December 2, 1922
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • December 26, 2000
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(cardiac failure)
  • Spouse
    • Lynn CartwrightFebruary 14, 1950 - December 26, 2000 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Stage: Appeared (as "Gletkin") in US touring company of "Darkness at Noon" adapted by Sidney Kingsley from the novel by Arthur Koestler.

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Father, with Lynn Cartwright, of daughter, Tara Gordon.
  • Quotes
    Westerns are fundamental . . . the morality play. There's a good guy and a bad guy. You know which is which. You don't have to go into the psyche to find out his parents were abusive . . . [the heavy is] the guy people remember. You get more recognition.
  • Salary
    • Maverick
      (1994)
      $1,000 /day

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.