Carl Gordon


Actor

About

Also Known As
Carl Rufus Gordon
Birth Place
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Born
January 20, 1932
Died
July 20, 2010
Cause of Death
Lymphoma

Biography

Black American character player who first gained national prominence as Andrew Emerson, the irascible, self-styled black Nationalist father of Charles S. Dutton, on the Fox sitcom "Roc" (1991-94). Gordon has appeared on stage in more than 30 productions of the Negro Ensemble Company, including "Zooman and the Sign" and "The River Niger," as well as "Ain't Suposed to Die a Natural Death,"...

Biography

Black American character player who first gained national prominence as Andrew Emerson, the irascible, self-styled black Nationalist father of Charles S. Dutton, on the Fox sitcom "Roc" (1991-94). Gordon has appeared on stage in more than 30 productions of the Negro Ensemble Company, including "Zooman and the Sign" and "The River Niger," as well as "Ain't Suposed to Die a Natural Death," "Do Lord Remember Me," and the August Wilson dramas, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "The Piano Lesson." (He was one of three "Roc" regulars--alongside Charles S. Dutton and Rocky Carroll--who came from "The Piano Lesson.") Gordon's feature credits include Ossie Davis' "Gordon's War" (1973), John Badham's "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings" (1976) and John Sayles' "The Brother From Another Planet" (1984).

Life Events

1967

Professional stage debut in Douglas Turner Ward's "Days of Absence/Happy Ending"

1969

Made Broadway debut in "The Great White North"

1973

First major film role in Ossie Davis's action thriller, "Gordon's War"

1991

Cast as Andrew Emerson, the father of Charles S. Dutton on the Fox sitcom "Roc"

Bibliography