Susan Gordon
{{Short description|American child actress (1949–2011)}}
{{For|persons of a similar name|Susan Gordon (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Susan Gordon
| image = Susan Gordon in Tormented (1960).jpg
| caption = Gordon in Tormented (1960)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1949|7|27}}
| birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|12|11|1949|7|27}}
| death_place = Teaneck, New Jersey, U.S.
| height =
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1958–1992; 2002–2011
| spouse = {{marriage|Avraham Aviner|1977}}
| father = Bert I. Gordon
| children = 6{{cite news |url=http://www.screendaily.com/news/industry-moves/former-child-star-susan-gordon-dies-at-62/5035844.article |title=Former Child Star Susan Gordon Dies at 62 |first=Elnaz |last=Toussil |date=December 14, 2011 |magazine=Screen Daily |access-date=2020-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203183423/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/susan-gordon-child-actress-50s-273821 |archive-date=February 3, 2012}}
}}
Susan Gordon (July 27, 1949 – December 11, 2011) was an American child actress who appeared in films and numerous episodes of television programs such as The Twilight Zone, My Three Sons, and The Donna Reed Show.{{cite magazine |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter| url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/susan-gordon-child-actress-50s-273821| title=Susan Gordon, Child Actress of the '50s and '60s, Dies at 62| last=Barnes| first=Mike| date=December 14, 2011| access-date=2012-07-02}}
Life and career
{{Moresources|section|date=March 2023}}
Gordon was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of film director Bert I. Gordon and his wife, Flora (Lang) Gordon. She began her career, at age eight, as a last-minute substitute for another young actress in 1958's Attack of the Puppet People, directed by her father, who subsequently directed her in three additional films — The Boy and the Pirates, Tormented (both 1960) and 1966's Picture Mommy Dead, her final film.{{Cite magazine |magazine=Variety |url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047500| title=Susan Gordon dies at 62| date=December 14, 2011| access-date=2012-07-02}}{{cite news |title=Actress Susan Gordon Dies at 62 |agency=World Entertainment News Network |work=contactmusic.com |date=2011-12-15 |url=https://www.contactmusic.com/news/actress-susan-gordon-dies-at-62_1275980 |access-date=2024-10-06}} In 1959, she acted and sang in the semi-biographical film, The Five Pennies, playing the daughter of musician, composer and bandleader Red Nichols, portrayed by Danny Kaye.
File:J. Pat O'Malley Susan Gordon Twilight Zone 1962.jpg and Susan Gordon in "The Fugitive", a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone}}]]
On television, Gordon appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "The Fugitive", as Jenny, a child with a leg brace who befriends an alien. Other series included Gunsmoke (1961 Episode “Little Girl” – S6E28), Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
{{cite news |url=http://teaneck.patch.com/articles/actress-resident-susan-gordon-dies-at-62| title=Actress, Resident Susan Gordon Dies at 62 |first=Noah |last=Cohen |date=December 15, 2011 |access-date=2020-03-17 |work=Patch Media}} My Three Sons, The Danny Thomas Show, Route 66, Ben Casey, 77 Sunset Strip and The Donna Reed Show. On November 27, 1959, Gordon appeared in the live NBC Television broadcast of Miracle on 34th Street.
Coming out of a decade-long retirement, Ms. Gordon appeared Off-Broadway in 2002 in A Magic Place in a New Time. Previous to that, she was an understudy for the long-running hit Nunsense.
Death
She was a resident of the New Jersey township of Teaneck, where she had settled after returning to her Jewish roots and marrying Avi Aviner, who had been a leader of the Jewish community in Tokyo. She died on December 11, 2011, of thyroid cancer, aged 62. She was buried in Kedumim, an Israeli settlement.{{cite magazine |last=Simonson |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Simonson |title=Susan Gordon, Stage and Child Film Actress, Dies at 62 |magazine=Playbill |date=2011-12-21 |url=https://playbill.com/article/susan-gordon-stage-and-child-film-actress-dies-at-62-com-185799 |access-date=2024-10-06}} {{cite news |last=Levin |first=Jay |url=http://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/135907553_Susan_Aviner__child_star_andTeaneck_businesswoman__at_62.html |title=Susan Aviner, child star and Teaneck businesswoman, at 62 |work=The Record |location=Woodland Park, NJ |date=December 19, 2011 |access-date=December 20, 2011}}
Selected Filmography
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 15: "Summer Shade") as Kate 'Katie' Kendall
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 20: "The Paragon") as Betty Fletcher
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Susan}}
Category:American child actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Deaths from cancer in New Jersey
Category:Deaths from thyroid cancer
Category:Jewish American actresses
Category:Actresses from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Category:Actresses from Teaneck, New Jersey