Huntley Gordon

For the early American racecar driver, see Huntley Gordon (racing driver).

Huntley Gordon
Gordon in The Beloved Imposter (1918)
Born(1879-10-08)October 8, 1879
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died(1956-12-07)December 7, 1956 (aged 77)
Van Nuys, California, United States
Years active1916–1941

Huntley Ashworth Gordon (October 8, 1879[1][2] – December 7, 1956) was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era.

Profile

Gordon was born in Montreal, Quebec, and educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including working in a bank, in a silver mine, contracting, as a commercial traveller, and being a cigarette factory owner before settling on the stage and at one time acted with Ethel Barrymore.[citation needed] His Broadway credits included Life (1914) and Our Mrs. McChesney (1915).[3]

He began his screen career in 1916 when given a chance by Thomas Ince. Gordon was once a model for Arrow Collars;[4] he was once painted by American commercial illustrator J. C. Leyendecker.[5]

He served in the Canadian Army during World War I and began a career in motion pictures in England where he had been stationed during the war. With his suave manner and classic good looks he was sought out in Hollywood, California where he acted in both silent and talking films.

In Hollywood, he appeared in numerous films including starring opposite Gloria Swanson in the 1923 film Bluebeard's 8th Wife. That same year he starred in The Wanters with Norma Shearer and Marie Prevost.

For most of his career, Gordon traveled between America and Britain, making films in both countries, appearing in more than 120 films. He was with MGM studios when he retired from film in 1940 and invested in the manufacture of silk stockings, a lucrative business at a time when Canadian and British women could not get them due to the rationing brought on by the Second World War. Although he no longer made motion pictures, Huntley Gordon remained active in the world of network radio.

Gordon died of a heart attack in Van Nuys, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.[6]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ^ "Huntley Gordon: 1880 Baptism certificate (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)". Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017 – via CineArtistes.com. Huntley Ashworth son of J. Ashworth Gordon and of Annie Jane Newcomb his wife was born on the eight day of October one thousand eight hundred and seventy nine and was baptized on the seventeenth day of January one thousand eight hundred and eighty
  2. ^ 1881 Census of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, District 90, page 70. Gordon's birth year is corroborated by the 1891 and 1901 Censuses of Canada.
  3. ^ "Huntley Gordon". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  4. ^ St. Johns, Ivan (April 1925). "He's the Original Collar Ad Model". Photoplay. New York: Photoplay Publishing Company. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  5. ^ "Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1925)". Chicago, Photoplay Magazine Publishing Company. 1925.
  6. ^ Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN 9780786450190. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huntley Gordon.