C. Henry Gordon

{{short description|American actor}}

{{Other people|Henry Gordon|Henry Gordon (disambiguation)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = C. Henry Gordon

| image = c. Henry Gordon in Long Shot.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Gordon in Long Shot (1939)

| birth_name = Henry Racke

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|6|17}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|12|3|1883|6|17}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1922{{efn|His first Broadway role was in 1922; however, it is likely he had numerous earlier off Broadway, stock, and touring roles.}}–1940

| spouse = Mrs. Gordon (?-1940) (his death){{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-c-henry-gordon/28434180/|title=C. Henry Gordon|date=December 4, 1940|pages=889|via=newspapers.com}}

}}

C. Henry Gordon (born Henry Racke;{{cite news |title=C. Henry Gordon, Veteran Actor, Is Dead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28434816/c_henry_gordon/ |access-date=February 15, 2019 |work=Journal Gazette |agency=International News Service |date=December 4, 1940 |location=Illinois, Mattoon |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215155847/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28434816/c_henry_gordon/ |url-status=live }} June 17, 1883 – December 3, 1940) was an American stage and film actor.

Gordon was born in New York City, New York. He was educated both in New York and abroad in Switzerland{{cite news |title=Amputation Fatal for Actor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28435338/c_henry_gordon/ |access-date=February 15, 2019 |work=The Bakersfield Californian |date=December 3, 1940 |location=California, Bakersfield |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215155842/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28435338/c_henry_gordon/ |url-status=live }} and Germany.{{cite news |title=C. Henry Gordon, Movie Villain, Dies in Hollywood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28467766/c_henry_gordon/ |access-date=February 16, 2019 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |agency=United Press |date=December 4, 1940 |location=Wisconsin, Madison |page=2|via = Newspapers.com}} For some years he owned and ran a silver mine in New Mexico. After failing to succeed in this venture, he became an actor.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Gordon's entry into acting came accidentally when he accompanied his sister to a tryout for a play. The director had him read a part and he soon was a member of the troupe.{{cite journal |last1=Rankin |first1=Ruth |title=Ladies Love Villains |journal=Photoplay |date=July 1933 |volume=XLIV |issue=2 |pages=72, 100–101 |url=https://archive.org/stream/photoplay4445chic#page/71/mode/1up |access-date=February 16, 2019}} He had a long stage career, on and off Broadway, before entering films.

For six years he appeared in the summer stock cast at Elitch Theatre (1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, & 1929.) Dier, C. L. (1932). The Lady of the Gardens, Mary Elitch Long. United States: Hollycrofters, Incorporated, Limited.

His Broadway credits included The Shanghai Gesture (1928), The Shanghai Gesture (1926), Mismates (1925), Puppets (1925), The Saint (1924), Mr. Pitt (1924), The Crooked Square (1923), Thin Ice (1922), Lights Out (1922), and The Drums of Jeopardy (1922).{{cite web |title=C. Henry Gordon |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/c-henry-gordon-42585 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215034046/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/c-henry-gordon-42585 |url-status=live }}

He first worked in films in 1911 with George Beban in New York. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1930 and 1940, frequently as a villain. He often portrayed people of color, such as Surat Khan in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936, opposite Errol Flynn), the Chinese smuggler Sam Kee in Lazy River (1934), and the Sultan of Padaya in Sophie Lang Goes West (1937).

On December 3, 1940, Gordon died at Hollywood Hospital in Los Angeles, California, after having his leg amputated the previous day because of a blood clot.{{cite news |title=C. Henry Gordon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28434180/c_henry_gordon/ |access-date=February 15, 2019 |work=Daily News |agency=Associated Press |date=December 4, 1940 |location=New York, New York City |page=C 7|via = Newspapers.com}}