Phyllis Gordon
{{short description|American actress}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Phyllis Gordon
|image = Phyllis Gordon release flier portrait.jpg
|caption = c. 1912
|birth_date = {{birth date|1889|10|17}}
|birth_place = Suffolk, Virginia, US
|death_date = {{death date and age|1964|10|16|1889|10|17}}
|death_place = Sonoma, California, US
|occupation = Actress
|yearsactive = 1911–1941
|spouse = Eugene Pallette (divorce)
}}
Phyllis Gordon (October 17, 1889 – October 16, 1964) was an American actress. She appeared in 50 silent era and sound films between 1911 and 1941. She was born in Suffolk, Virginia, and died one day before her 75th birthday in Sonoma, California.California Death Index, Name: Phyllis L. Gordon, Birth Date: October 17, 1889, Mother's Maiden Name: Smith, Sex: Female, Death Place: Sonoma, Death Date: October 16, 1964, SSN: 459-07-2133, Age: 74 yrs.
Gordon was once notably photographed walking a pet cheetah on a London shopping street.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNLfAAAAMAAJ|title=Decades of Fashion|author=Harriet Worsley|publisher=Könemann|year=2004|isbn=9783833112157}} She also shocked people at a restaurant in Davenport, Iowa, when they realized that she had a marmoset in her handbag.{{cite news|title=Actress Brings Monkey to Table|newspaper=Quad-City Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4410474/the_davenport_democrat_and_leader/|agency=The Davenport Democrat and Leader|date=November 6, 1924|location=Iowa, Davenport|page=14|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = February 23, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Early years
From the time she was 5 until she was 13, Gordon lived in a convent. "Then," she said, "the money gave out, and I had to go to work."{{cite news|title="If You Haven't a Square Jaw Stay Off the Stage," Is the Advice of Actress Who Herded Cattle When 13|newspaper=The Tacoma Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4398027/the_tacoma_times/|agency=The Tacoma Times|date=September 1, 1911|location=Washington, Tacoma|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = February 22, 2016}} {{Open access}} When she was 13, Gordon helped to herd cattle in Oklahoma. In a 1911 interview, she said: "I rode the range astride with the cowboys, curried horses, washed and ironed and did manual labor for a living."
Gordon graduated from Lafayette College with a bachelor's degree in music.{{cite news|title=Gossip of Stage Here and Abroad|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4397232/san_francisco_chronicle/|agency=San Francisco Chronicle|date=March 26, 1911|location=California, San Francisco|page=23|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = February 22, 2016}} {{Open access}} Gordon also appeared in vaudeville productions as a comedian and a singer.{{cite news|title=Bennett's Next Week|newspaper=The Ottawa Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4395354/the_ottawa_journal/|agency=The Ottawa Journal|date=December 11, 1909|location=Canada, Ottawa, Ontario|page=17|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 22, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Stage
A career-boosting break occurred for Gordon in 1908 when she was a chorus girl in A Knight for a Day. As the understudy for Sallie Fisher, Gordon went on stage when Fisher missed a performance. The next day's issue of The New York Times reported "Miss Gordon's performance was so satisfactory that she is to be engaged for an important role in a new Summer production to be offered at one of Mr. Whitney's theatres in Chicago."{{cite news|title=Chorus Girl Understudy Makes a Hit|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4395133/the_new_york_times/|agency=The New York Times|date=March 11, 1908|location=New York, New York City|page=7|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = February 22, 2016}} {{Open access}} Gordon's Broadway credits include Up and Down Broadway (1910).{{cite web|title=Phyllis Gordon|url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/95924/Phyllis-Gordon|website=Playbill Vault|access-date=February 22, 2016}}
A review of the production of Dick Whittington, staged in 1910, noted "Phyllis Gordon had the best singing voice, although Louise Dresser was the featured member of the cast."{{cite news|title=Offerings in Pittsburgh During the Past Week|newspaper=Pittsburgh Daily Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4396956/pittsburgh_daily_post/|agency=Pittsburgh Daily Post|date=April 10, 1910|location=Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh|page=34|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = February 22, 2016}} {{Open access}}
Selected filmography
- Calamity Anne's Beauty (1913)
- In the Secret Service (1913)
- The Werewolf (1913)
- Another Thin Man (1939)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category-inline}}
- {{IMDb name|0330526|Phyllis Gordon}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Phyllis}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American silent film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:Actresses from Virginia
Category:People from Suffolk, Virginia