Background
Gordon was born Rufus Carl Gordon, Junior. in Goochland, Virginia and was always known by his middle name.
Gordon was born Rufus Carl Gordon, Junior. in Goochland, Virginia and was always known by his middle name.
After completing his military service, he attended Brooklyn College but dropped out to pursue employment.
Life & He moved with his family as a child and was raised in Brooklyn"s Bedford-Stuyvesant. He enlisted in the United States Air Force and served during the Korean War as an aircraft mechanic. As recounted by The New York Times, he fell to his knees one night and cried out "Lord, tell me what I need to do" and received the answer "Try acting".
He enrolled at Gene Frankel"s Theatre and Film Workshop, where he was the oldest student and the only African American.
After many auditions, he started getting roles as a character actor on Broadway, in film and on television He appeared in 1967 in the national tour of Happy Ending / Day of Absence, a pair of one-act plays by Douglas Turner Ward, and performed on stage in 30 productions by Ward"s Negro Ensemble Company.
He appeared in films. In the 1973 movie "Gordon"s War" and 1984 John Sayles movie The Brother from Another Planet.
In 1990, Gordon played the role of Doaker in August Wilson"s The Piano Lesson, the fourth of 10 plays in his Pittsburgh Cycle.
He also appeared on Broadway in the 1971 production of Ain"t Supposed to Die a Natural Death, a musical by Melvin Van Peebles and a 2003 production of Ma Rainey"s Black Bottom with Charles South. Dutton and Whoopi Goldberg. He appeared on television in episodes of Emergency and Law & Order. His most notable role was on the 1991–1994 Fox series Roc, about an African American family in Baltimore.
Starring Dutton as Roc Emerson, the show included Gordon in the role of the title character"s father Andrew, an "irascible, sharp-tongued retired train porter".
Reviewer Marvin Kitman in Newsday described Gordon"s character in Roc as a "black Archie Bunker". He gives portraits of Malcolm X as birthday presents.
Andrew also insists that Larry Bird can"t possibly be white and play basketball as well as he does, that Bird was raised in Harlem and his real name is Abdul Mustafa. Gordon based his character on a strong-willed uncle who owned a grocery store in Philadelphia.
Episodes in the second and third season of the show were broadcast live, which didn"t faze Gordon, who described the experience as being "like going back to Broadway".
The decision to air live shows was made as a promotional stunt, but was enabled by the extensive stage experience of Gordon, Dutton and other cast members. Gordon died at age 78 on July 20, 2010, at his home in Jetersville, Virginia due to non-Hodgkin lymphoma.