GORDON’S FILM AND TV CREDITS -

If kitschy sci-fi had a music man, it was an opinionated, 98-pound quadriplegic named Gordon orchestrating the flamboyance. Wouldn’t you know it was Ed Wood Jr., the undisputed emperor of 1950s schlock horror, who was the first to harness Gordon’s cheaply delivered wares. His soundtrack, in fact, winds the drama of Wood’s beloved stinker, Plan 9 From Outer Space. Just listen to that firebreathing organ. Introduced to a Hollywood that outsiders would not recognize – the Hollywood populated by freakish under-heroes and dabblers – my uncle realized what he was doing. Running postproduction for low-budget dreamers was still better that taking crumbs from the legitimate side of the industry. Space vampires. Maneating ferns. Venutian Dr. Strangeloves. Really tall women. Hey, it was a living. It just wasn’t something you crowed about at starlet-filled cocktail parties. Please note that for some listed films and programs, Gordon’s employees – people like Jeff Bushleman, Bob Glenn, Walter Greene, Ted Roberts and Joe von Stroheim — are credited, not Gordon himself.

Here’s a sampling of Gordon’s sci-fi resume as musical director, supervisor and special effects wizard. You can go to www.imdb.com or Google for additional details.

Plan Nine From Outer Space -1959
Night of the Ghouls - 1959
Assignment Outer Space (a.k.a. Space Men) - 1960
Hercules Conquers Atlantis -1961
The Phantom Planet -1961
First Spaceship on Venus -1962
Mutiny in Outer Space -1965
The Human Duplicators - 1965
Navy Versus the Night Monsters -1966
Women of the Prehistoric Planet -1966

An MGM romantic comedy starring Doris Day as a wannabe-mom was Gordon’s first brush with an A-list project. Tunnel of Love gave him what he needed: the credibility to land future paychecks, in this case with TV westerns. When they were yanked, my uncle paid the mortgage furnishing music and sound effects for sitcoms and cartoons that blared nonstop from America’s living rooms before anyone had heard of cable. Gigs from the Woody Woodpecker Show, thanks to Gordon’s improbable friendship with Walter Lantz, came in handy in the dead times. By the mid-1960s, my uncle was chumming with a different breed – Gentle Ben, cross-eyed lions, Chuck Connors and the outdoor adventure world of eccentric producer Ivan Tors. Gordon must have wondered why he ever left Ivan’s side when he burned out on Hollywood in the early 1970s, deciding he’d be the kingpin of nascent South African TV instead.

GORDON’S MOVIES-MAINSTREAM. Below is a taste of some of Gordon’s better-known movies:

Tunnel of Love - 1958
Shock Corridor - 1963
Living Between Two Worlds - 1963
Africa Texas Style - 1967
Gentle Giant - 1967
The Daring Game –1968
Hello Down There - 1969
Lost in the Desert (a.k.a Dirkie) – 1969
Pippi Longstocking - 1969
Mr. Kingstreet’s War – 1973
Animals are Beautiful People – 1974

GORDON’S TELEVISION CAREER. Only show start-date listed:

Fireside Theater – 1949
Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok – 1951
The Red Skelton Show – 1951
Cavalcade of America - 1952
Bozo the Clown – 1956
26 Men - 1957
The Woody Woodpecker Show - 1957
The Ann Sothern Show – 1958
Popeye the Sailor – 1958
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo – 1962
Flipper – 1964
Green Acres – 1965
Daktari – 1966
Tarzan - 1966
Cowboy in Africa – 1967
Gentle Ben – 1967
Journey to the Center of the Earth - 1967
The Pink Panther Show– 1969
The Aquarians - 1970