1. Leo Vincent Gordon was an American character actor and screenwriter.
18 Facts About Leo Gordon
1. 2.
Leo Gordon left school in the eighth grade, went to work in construction and demolition, and then joined the New Deal agency, the Civilian Conservation Corps, in which he participated in various public works projects.
3.
Leo Gordon was in southern California where he and a cohort attempted to rob a bar and its patrons with a pistol.
4.
Leo Gordon was shot in the stomach by one of the officers making the arrest.
5.
Leo Gordon was discovered by a Hollywood agent in a Los Angeles production of Darkness at Noon.
6.
In 1954 Leo Gordon portrayed the outlaw Bill Doolin, a native Arkansan who founded the Wild Bunch gang and operated primarily in Kansas, on the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis.
7.
That same year Leo Gordon was cast as Zip Wyatt in "Three Wanted Men" of Rex Allen's syndicated Western series Frontier Doctor.
8.
Leo Gordon played a gunslinging professional killer in the pilot for the television version of Gunsmoke; but many changes were later instituted on the series, such as the marshal's office and Long Branch Saloon looking markedly different and the relationship between Matt Dillon and Kitty being subtly more formal as well, so the episode was buried deep in the season in the hope that viewers would not notice, which apparently worked.
9.
Leo Gordon was often cast to make the most of his 6-foot-2-inch height, intense features, deep menacing voice, and icy stare.
10.
Leo Gordon appeared in multiple roles on Robert Stack's 1959 ABC crime drama The Untouchables.
11.
Leo Gordon appeared on the NBC Western series Empire and Laredo.
12.
Leo Gordon portrayed sympathetic parts when called upon to do so, including his performances in the Western Black Patch, a film that he wrote, and in Roger Corman's civil rights drama The Intruder, opposite a young William Shatner.
13.
Leo Gordon appeared as aging wrestler Milo Stavroupolis on NBC's Little House on the Prairie, starring Michael Landon.
14.
Leo Gordon appeared in the film Maverick that same year with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner.
15.
Leo Gordon starred in Tombstone Territory, Laramie and both acted in and wrote for Adam 12.
16.
Leo Gordon wrote several movies for the Corman brothers, Roger and Gene.
17.
Leo Gordon wrote the screenplay and appeared in Tobruk, which starred Rock Hudson and George Peppard and was directed by Arthur Hiller.
18.
In 1997 Leo Gordon received the Golden Boot Award for his many years working in Westerns.