Much of the information here comes from the Internet Movie Database. However very many thanks to Dorinda Hartmann for supplying a vast amount of additional information and corrections to my original list. In fact she knows Gordon's perfomances so well, that I wonder if she's related to him?! Very well done indeed, Dorinda!
Also thanks to Sue Sandy and Richard Spurr for extra detail!
Gordon Cameron Jackson was born on 19th December 1923 in Glasgow, Scotland, the youngest of five children, whose father taught painting in the city. His interest in acting began during his school-life where he took part in many amateur productions. This led to him being spotted by the BBC and work in radio shows such as Children's Hour soon followed. However by the age of fifteen he left school and went to work as a draughtsman for Rolls-Royce.
But when film producers were looking for a young Scot to take part in the film The Foreman Went to France, the Beeb had not forgotten Gordon (even if he had forgotten them!) and recommended him. His abilities as an actor really took off at the age of twenty with his appearance as an airman in the film Millions Like Us. Although limited to his unmistakeable Scottish accent, his versatility in other areas saw him win myriad film and TV roles in a career spanning almost fifty years – as you can see from the table below! His career was truly prolific and although not always starring in high-profile films, he was rarely out of work.
His very early work also consisted of much radio work and repertory theatre in Glasgow, Worthing and Perth. He made his London stage debut in 1951, in the long-running farce Seagulls Over Sorrento. Later stage roles included those of Horatio in Hamlet, Banquo in Macbeth (a role which Martin Shaw took in the early seventies), Ishmael in the stage production of Moby Dick directed by Orson Welles (the mind boggles at this – how did they get a whale to perform on a stage?!) and a range of other parts both classical and modern.
In 1949 he starred in the film Floodtide alongside actress Rona Anderson whom he married in 1951. The couple bore two children, Graham and Roddy.
Gordon's film work remained steady throughout the fifties and sixties and amongst fellow actors such as Alec Guiness he came to be highly respected.
In 1969 he played Horatio in Tony Richardson's production of Hamlet, at the Round House, and won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor.
But the public didn't really "discover" him until 1971 with London Weekend Television's classic Upstairs Downstairs. This was a drama series set during the twentieth century's first thirty years and concerned the contrast between the lives of a wealthy family (upstairs) and their servants (downstairs). Gordon played the 'middleman' butler Hudson. The series lasted five seasons and sold to dozens of countries worldwide, proving popular almost everywhere - particularly the USA. In 1974 he was awarded British Actor of the Year award and a Supporting Actor Emmy in 1975 for Upstairs, Downstairs.
Next came The Professionals, of course. Although a much different role than anything Gordon had had before, I'm sure most would agree that, even though his gruff, unsympathetic Cowley character was not always likeable, he played it very well indeed.
In 1979 his was appointed OBE - apparently the Royal Family were fans of The Professionals!
Shortly after completion of the series, Gordon appeared in the Australian mini-series A Town Called Alice. He won Australia's Logie award for this role, too. Towards the end of his career he often commuted between the UK and the Antipodes.
Yet despite his success, Gordon claimed that he did not enjoy his own performances and never watched himself on screen, stating that he never felt very confident or comfortable in front of the camera or on stage.
Tragically Gordon's career was cut short when, in 1989, it was discovered he had bone cancer. The illness took its toll very quickly indeed and he passed away on 14th January 1990 leaving Rona as his widow. A great loss to us all.
Year | Film or TV Show title and country | Character | Comments | DVD/VHS |
---|---|---|---|---|
1941 | The Foreman Went to France (Film - aka Somewhere in France) | Alastair 'Jock' MacFarlan | This film examined the plight of Brits trapped in France during the German occupation of that country. | Click! |
1942 | One of Our Aircraft is Missing (Film) | ? | Gordon in an uncredited appearance. This is the (true?) story of a bomber crew who were shot down but smuggled home by brave Dutch patriots. | Click! |
1943 | Nine Men (Film) | "Young 'Un" | The men of the film's title find themselves defending a fort in war-torn Africa. | Click! |
1943 | Millions Like Us (Film) | Fred Blake | A look at how women were sent en masse to work in factories to fabricate aircraft parts and munitions. Despite being so early in his career, Gordon plays the lead. Now available on DVD, though hopefully a good deal better than the scratched-to-bits print used in a recent screening on UK TV. | Click! |
1943 | San Demetrio, London (Film) | John Jamieson | When a British merchant ship is left to the mercy of patrolling U-boats, the crew must keep her afloat and out of harm's way! | VHS only |
1945 | Pink String and Sealing Wax (Film) | David Sutton | Thriller in which Gordon's character is implicated in a murder committed by an older woman with whom he's infatuated. | Click! |
1946 | Someone Wasn't Thinking (Film short) | ? | ||
1946 | The Captive Heart (Film) | Lieutenant David Lennox | An examination of life among British officers held in a German POW camp and the effects of their incarceration on their families at home. | Click! |
1948 | Against the Wind (Film) | John 'Scotty' Duncan | World War II thriller in which a British spy ring uses counter-intelligence techniques to confuse the enemy while attempting to rescue one of their own men. | Click! |
1949 | Stop Press Girl (Film) | Jock Melville | Comedy about a woman who discovers she has the power to make machinery stop. | Click! |
1949 | Whisky Galore! (Film - aka Tight Little Island) | George Campbell | Oft-screened Brit classic. Scottish islanders try to get their hands on tonnes of whisky from a ship stranded just off-shore. | Click! |
1949 | Eureka Stockade (Film, Australia - aka Massacre Hill) | Tom Kennedy | Drama concerning Australia's Gold Rush in the nineteenth century. | Click! |
1949 | Floodtide | David Shields | Romantic drama with Gordon playing the lead, a farmer's son who dreams of a life in the city. This was the film where Gordon and Rona met. | Click! |
1950 | Bitter Springs (Film, Australia) | Mac | Concerns the clash of a tribe or Aborigines who find their land being taken by foreigners. | Click! |
1951 | The Lady with a Lamp (Film) | ? | Biography of Florence Nightingale | Click! |
1951 | Happy Go Lovely (Film) | Paul Tracy | Comedy with David Niven as a rich entrepreneur persuaded to finance a stageplay. | Click! |
1952 | Castle in the Air (Film) | Hiker | The owner of a Scottish castle discovers that it is haunted by the spirit of a beautiful woman and decides to use her ghost as a tourist attraction. | US import |
1953 | Meet Mr Lucifer (Film) | Hector McPhee | Satirical comedy in which a pantomime actor dreams he is the Devil and sets out to prevent people from wasting their time watching TV! (Sounds more like an episode of The Twilight Zone!) | |
1953 | The Love Lottery (Film) | Ralph | An early satire on Hollywood. | Click! |
1953 | Death Goes to School (Film) | Inspector Campbell | Gordon's character has to investigate murder at a Girls' School | |
1953 | The Malta Story (Film) | ? | Drama charting the Allies' attempts to defend Malta duing World War II. | Click! |
1954 | The Delavine Affair (Film - aka Murder Is News) | Florian | A crime drama concerning jewel thieves. | |
1955 | Windfall (Film) | Leonard | Comedy about a suitcase full of money that turns out to be counterfeit. | |
1955 | Passage Home (Film) | Burne | Melodrama set onboard a ship sailing from South America to England. Apparently rather dull. | |
1955 | Moby Dick Rehearsed (TV movie) | Young Actor/Ishmael | I don't know whether there is any tie-in with the stage version in which Gordon appeared but this seems to be a play about a group of actors rehearsing to put on the classic story - a "play-within-a-play". Orson Welles writes and leads. | |
1956 | Pacific Destiny (Film) | District Officer McAllister | Film documenting the life of a British Colonial Officer. | |
1956 | Women Without Men (Film - aka Blonde Bait) | Percy | The U.S. State Department teams up with Scotland Yard to track down a gangster. | |
1956 | The Quatermass Experiment (Film - aka The Creeping Unknown and Shock) | TV Producer | Classic cult Brit Sci-fi. This is the film adaptation of the original TV series. | Click! |
1956 | Baby and the Battleship (Film) | Harry | Comedy about a sailor's attempts to smuggle a baby onto a ship....?! | Click! |
1957 | A Soldier's Tale (TV) | ? | Hmmm... may have been adapted from the stage play listed below. | |
1957 | The Hasty Heart (TV) | ? | ||
1957 | Talk in a Craig (TV) | ? | ||
1957 | Violent Stranger (Film - aka Man in the Shadow) | Jimmy Morris | Thriller in which a woman sets out to find a killer for whom her husband has been wrongly imprisoned. | |
1957 | Rockets Galore! (Film - aka Mad Little Island) | George Campbell | Sequel to the 1949 film. | Click! |
1957 | Panic in the Parlour (Film - aka Sailor Beware) | Carnoustie Bligh | A comedy about an overbearing mother who controls her daughter's wedding. | Click! |
1957 | Abandon Ship! (Film - aka Seven Waves Away and Seven Days from Now) | John Merritt | Click! | |
1957 | Let's Be Happy (Film) | Dougal MacLean | Musical comedy. | |
1957 | Black Ice (Film) | Hamish | Sea-faring adventure on a trawler. | |
1957 | The Adventures of Robin Hood episode 'The Profiteer' (TV) | Andrew | Click! | |
1958 | All Aboard (TV) | Alastair Robbins | Sitcom about about life on a cruise ship. Gordon played in a few of the 26 episodes. Thanks to Niki Walton! | |
1958 | Blind Spot (Film) | Chalky | Crime caper starring a very young Michael Caine! | Click! |
1958 | Three Crooked Men (Film) | Don Wescott | A trio of crooks breaks into Wescott's store with the intention of robbing a neighbouring bank by entering through the shared wall. Wescott unexpectedly returns to his store and he and a passer-by (played by Warren Mitchell) are held captive. Co-written by Brian Clemens! | |
1958 | Hell Drivers (Film - aka Hard Drivers) | Scottie | Gritty classic concerning a firm of truckers competing with each other (often using dirty tactics) to become top driver. An early appearance for Sean Connery, too! | Click! |
1958, 1959 | Yesterday's Enemy (TV and Film) | Sgt MacKenzie | Controversial TV play written by Peter Newman, set in the Burmese jungle in 1942, suggesting that British soldiers at war aren't always above reproach. The TV play was so successful that the following year it was adapted into film form by, surprisingly, Hammer, with Gordon in the same role. Info from The Guinness Book of Classic British TV, Second Edition. Although I've got a copy of this splendid tome, I somehow missed this particular entry! Many thanks to Richard Spurr for spotting it! | Click! |
1959 | BBC Sunday Night Theatre Proud Passage (TV) | Dr Neil McCulloch | ||
1959 | Dial 999 episode 'Down to the Sea' (TV) | Ted Morgan | London-based cop show starring Canadian Robert Beatty. Not bad and surprisingly gritty for its time. Apparently this was one of the earliest attempts to get North American broadcasters interested in a Brit TV show. | |
1959 | Saber of London episode 'Penny Black' (TV) | Simms | Police detective series. With its predecessor, Mark Saber, this ran throughout the entire 1950's. Hasn't been repeated in the UK since 1969. In this episode Saber has to prove the innocence of a man suspected of murdering a wealthy coin dealer, depite a witness prepared to swear to the man's guilt. Thanks to Trevor Jordan for info! | |
1959 | Devil's Bait (Film) | Sergeant Malcolm | Suspense drama on the trail of a poisoned loaf of bread! | |
1959 | Blind Date (Film – aka Chance Meeting) | Sergeant | ||
1959 | The Bridal Path (Film) | Constable Alec | Comedy about a young Hebridean islander who goes to the Scottish mainland to seek a wife. | |
1959 | The Navy Lark (Film) | Leading Seaman Johnson | Cinematic spin-off from the popular, long-running comedy radio series whose sole purpose was to debunk the British Navy! | Click! |
1960 | Tunes of Glory (Film) | Capt Jimmy Cairns | When an army major is beaten to promotion by another officer, a social and psychological war between the men ensues. I gather Gordon plays one of the leads in this. | US-only DVD |
1960 | Snowball (Film) | Bill Donovan | When a bus conductor with a history of mental illness and blackouts is accused by a young boy of thowing him off a bus, the situation escalates to tragedy. An impossibly young Dennis Waterman - in what appears to be his feature film debut - plays the boy, with Gordon as his father. Somewhat dull and a rather unsatisfying conclusion. | |
1960 | The Price of Silence (Film) | Roger Fenton | Gordon plays an an ex-con trying to bury his criminal past and legitimately succeed in the outside world. | |
1960 | Two Wives at One Wedding (Film) | Tom | Gordon plays a respected doctor who is blackmailed by someone from his past in the underground movement. Co-written by Brian Clemens. | Click! |
1961 | Greyfriars Bobby (Film) | Farmer | The true story of a dog who remains loyal to his dead master. Sounds fascinating!?! | Click! |
1961 | Cone of Silence (Film - aka Trouble in the Sky) | Captain Bateson | Can several airliner crashes have all been caused by pilot error? | Click! |
1962 | Suspense episode 'One Step From the Pavement' | Steven Grainger | Short-lived anthology series. | |
1962 | Mutiny on the Bounty (Film) | Edward Birkett | Brilliant film but for some reason rarely shown on UK TV nowadays. Gordon only has a minor role in it, though. | Click! |
1962 | Ghost Squad episode 'The Golden Silence' (TV) | Mike Ferrers | This series concerned a special unit of Scotland Yard detectives whose brief was to infiltrate major criminal gangs and put a stop to their crimes by whatever means necessary! Sound familiar? In fact a few episodes were written by Brian Clemens. | Click! |
1963 | The Long Ships (Film) | Vahlin | Viking extravaganza concerning the search for a great golden bell, "The Mother of Voices". Sounds more like a rip-off of Jason and the Argonauts. | Click! |
1963 | The Great Escape (Film) | Sandy MacDonald | Click! | |
1963 | BBC Sunday Night Play episode 'The Bergonzi Hand' (TV) | Kenneth Scoones | No idea what this is about! | |
1964 | ABC of Britain (TV) | ? | No info on this at all. | |
1964 | Daylight Robbery (Film) | ? | Children's Film Foundation production. After a prank goes wrong three children find themselves locked in a store and encounter robbers. | |
1965 | Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (Film, US/UK) | McDougal | Comedy set in the early twentieth century with an airplane race across the English channel. | Click! |
1965 | The Ipcress File (Film) | Jock Carswell | A superb, tense espionage thriller - one of the few decent ones Michael Caine has made. | Click! |
1965 | The Avengers episode 'Castle De'Ath' (TV) | Ian | Emma Peel, posing as an expert from ABORCASHASTA (Advisory Bureau on Refurbishing Castles and Stately Homes as Tourist Attractions, of course!), teams up with John "Mc"Steed as they investigate an apparently haunted Scottish Castle. Our Em - dressed in that wonderful leather catsuit :-P - naturally gets lashed to a rack in the dungeons' torture chamber. Gordon plays co-owner of the castle and soon finds himself under the suspicious gaze of our heroes. Actually this is one of the more routine episodes from the classic Di Rigg years! PLEASE NOTE: Although the series is available on DVD from different distributors, each one suffers different problems related to audio and/or picture quality. As of 2013 we are still awaiting a competent technical presentation of the series. | Click! |
1965 | Gideon's Way episode 'The Thin Red Line' (TV) | Sergeant McKinnon | Critically-acclaimed series concerning a team of Scotland Yard detectives finding crime was anything but the glamorous life depicted in many other TV shows. Again, thanks to Dave Rogers and Steve Gillis for info. | Click! |
1965 | Operation: Crossbow (Film) | RAF Pilot | There's little point in Gordon's fans actually digging out this film as although he filmed some scenes for it, they were all dropped in the final edit. Perhaps a "Director's Cut" will emerge one day. | |
1966 | Dr Finlay's Casebook episode 'The Seniority Rule'(TV) | Dave Todd | Hugely popular (in its day) soap of everyday life in a small country medical practice. | Click! |
1966 | The Fighting Prince of Donegal (Film) | Captain Leeds | Sixteenth century tale - loosely based on true events - of an attempt to unite Ireland in a fight against the English. Gordon plays the leader of the villains. | |
1966 | Cast a Giant Shadow (Film, US) | James MacAfee | A film concentrating on one Colonel Mickie Marcus (played by Kirk Douglas) during the Israeli war of Independance. Gordon plays a minor part as a Scots engineer, not appearing until the near the end of the film. Many thanks to 'Cat' for info! | Click! |
1967 | Escape episode 'Three to a Cell' (TV) | Frank | No info on this series! | |
1967 | Triple Cross (Film) | British Sergeant | WWII espionage about a bank robber who ends up working for both the Nazis and the British. Based on a true story. Gordon's role is minor and uncredited for some reason. | Click! |
1967 | Night of the Generals (Film) | Captain Engel | The slaying of a prostitute leads investigators into a plot to assassinate Hitler. | Click! |
1968 | Mystery and Imagination episode 'The Casting of the Runes' (TV) | Gayton | TV horror anthology series. | Click! |
1968 | Danger Route (Film) | Brian Stern | Espionage thriller with Richard Johnson. Gordon plays a fellow agent. | |
1968 | Theatre 625 episode 'Wind Versus Polygamy' (TV) | Father Joseph | One-off drama from the BBC's Theatre 625 anthology series (so-called due to the transistion from 405- to 625-line transmission technology being adopted at the time). | |
1969 | Run Wild, Run Free (Film - aka Philip) | Mr Ransome | A young mute boy befriends a wild white colt. Gordon plays the boy's father. | VHS only |
1969 | On the Run (Film) | Mr Mallory | Children's film (possibly from the Childrens Film Foundation) about London slum kids helping an African prince evade kidnappers. | |
1969 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Film) | Gordon Lowther | Click! | |
1969 | Hamlet (Film) | Horatio | Click! | |
1969 | Detective episode 'The Singing Sands' (TV) | Tommy Rankin | ||
1970 | Scrooge (Film) | Tom | Click! | |
1970 | Rain (TV) | Dr. MacPhail | TV adaption of a Somerset-Maugham play. A missionary and his wife are stranded at a tropical hotel during the rainy season. | |
1970 | The Singing Sands (TV) | ? | No info at all on this. | |
1970 | Dickens' Centenary (TV) | ? | Ditto. | |
1970 | Confession episode 'Allergy' (TV play) | Jim | Gordon plays a Marxist living in a remote Scottish cottage. Tx: 28th August | |
1970 | Budgie episode '... And the Lord Taketh Away' (TV) | Soapy Simon | Budgie has become a minor classic over the years, though seldom repeated. Pop singer-turned-actor Adam Faith played Ronnie "Budgie" Bird, a petty crim who ended up working as a gopher for London gangsters. Although a devious character himself, the audience was invited to sympathise with Budgie's predicament. Yeah – would love to see this series again, even if it does look terribly dated now. | Click! |
1970 | Menace episode 'Trespasser' (TV) | Lander | Thriller anthology series. Little remembered now but a DVD release has been mooted for many years. | |
1971 | Madame Sin (Film) | Cmndr Cavendish | Comedy thriller in which a woman (Bette Davis) plans to steal a Polaris submarine with the unwitting help of a CIA agent. | Click! |
1971 | Kidnapped (Film) | Charles Stewart | Film adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic. | Click! |
1971 to 1975 | Upstairs Downstairs (TV drama) | Angus Hudson | Gordon's best-known role, with The Professionals coming a very close second, of course! (The series was "re-imagined" by the BBC in 2010). | Click! |
1972 | Arthur of the Britons (TV) | Old man | Italian Professionals fan Carmine Puglia seems to recall that Gordon took part in this popular series, which ran to twenty-six episodes. Can anyone confirm, please?. | |
1972 | The Befrienders episode 'Hunted' (TV) | Det Inspector Calder | Short-lived drama series presenting stories about the work of the UK's Samaritans, a charity set up to try to help lonely or suicidal people. | |
1973 | Thirty-Minute Theatre episode 'Places Where They Sing' (TV) | ? | This anthology series seems to have run from 1965 to 1973. | |
1973 (?) | Public Information Film (TV) | - | Many British folks will remember the myriad Public Information Films of the 1960s and 70s such as "Keep Britain Tidy", "The Green Cross Code" and the "Charley Says" campaigns. Gordon did a PIF warning of the dangers of leaving broken glass on beaches. You can see it on the recently released Charley Says DVD, however Gordon "appears" merely in voice-over. (Many thanks to James Heath) | Click! |
1974 | Russell Harty Plus (TV) | Gordon interviewed (along with Diana Rigg) by the late chat show host. Tx 2nd February | ||
1975 | Morecambe and Wise (TV comedy) | - | Gordon made a guest appearance in the 1975 Christmas Special of this long-running legendary series. He played a similar character to that of his butler from Upstairs Downstairs, but in a kilt, I seem to remember! | |
1975 | Russian Roulette (Film, UK/Canada) | Hardison | Thriller concerning a plot to assassinate the Soviet premier. There only seems to be a Spanish release available on DVD at the moment, though it has the English soundtrack. | Click! |
1976 | Hadleigh episode 'Favours'(TV) | Alan Mannett | Long-running though little-remembered (probably 'cos it was deadly dull) drama series with Gerald 'Adam Adamant' Harper in the title role playing some Lord-of-the-Manor type. Gordon guested in an episode from the final season as a chap trying to buy the stately home. His character bears some resemblances to Cowley! Many thanks to Richard Spurr for info! | Click! |
1976-1977 approx | Trustee Savings Bank (TV commercial) | Better known, of course, simply as the TSB. No more info on this but many thanks to John Norris who worked for the company that produced the ads. | ||
1976(?) | FineFare (TV commercial) | - | FineFare was successful supermarket chain in the UK that mysteriously disappeared in the 1980s. | |
1977 | Spectre (TV Movie, US/UK) | Inspector Cabell | Unsuccessful TV pilot in which a criminologist (Robert Culp) and his partner try to solve a mystery involving the summoning of demons. Gordon plays the, perhaps expected, cynical Scots detective role, until..... well, we wouldn't want to spoil it for you!
To be honest I found it all a bit silly and Culp tended to ham it up in places. And as for Gordon at the end of the film... well unfortunately this raised some unintended laughter! Ah well - at least we get the double-pleasures of Vicki Michelle and Penny Irving! :-) |
|
1977 | Golden Rendezvous (Film - aka Nuclear Terror, US/UK) | Dr Marston | A steamship contains a nuclear bomb and is heading for a ship loaded with gold bullion. | |
1977 | The Supernatural episode 'Night of the Marionettes' (TV) | ? | Another horror anthology series (weren't these popular in the sixties and seventies?!) described as "Eight stories from the Victorian Club of the Damned." Oooh, errrr! Apparently it was issued very briefly on videocassette and then bootleg DVD. | |
1977 | The Medusa Touch (Film, UK/France) | Dr Johnson | Panned by the critics but I love this film which stars Richard Burton as a psychokinetic, unable to control his massive destructive power and desperate for help. Apparently filmed in the early summer of 1977, in which case this would have been the film that caused the first of a few delays to production on The Professionals. | Click! |
1978 | Jim'll Fix It (TV) | See the equivalent entry in Martin's biog for the full SP on this. | ||
1979 | The Last Giraffe (TV movie, country unknown) | Fielding | Synposis courtesy of the Internet Movie Database: "An American wildlife photgrapher and her husband, a safari guide in Kenya, set out to save an endangered giraffe after its mother had been killed by poachers." | |
1981 | A Town Like Alice (TV, Australia) | Noel Strachan | Fondly, though vaguely, remembered mini-series about wartime romance. I've provided a link to the DVD release but it doesn't seem to be available now. | Click! |
1982 | Hart to Hart episode 'Harts and Hounds'(TV, US) | Sir William "Billy" Belgrave | This episode from the slushy husband-and-wife 'tec series, along with the series pilot, was filmed in the UK. Gordon was the villain. Not yet available on DVD. | |
1982 | An Audience with Kenneth Williams (TV) | - | Humorous anecdotes from the late British comedy actor. Gordon – a good friend of Williams, apparently – was in the audience and received a few honorable mentions. | Click! |
1983 | An Audience with Mel Brooks (TV) | - | One-off show in which Mel interacted with members of an celebrity audience. Martin Shaw was also present. | |
1983 | Father's Day (TV sitcom) | ? | Barely remembered sitcom - possibly from Channel 4. Can't say for certain but Gordon may have guested in one episode. | |
1984 | The Shooting Party (Film) | Tom Harker | Drama charting the effects on the British aristicracy in the run-up to World War I. James Mason's last film. | US DVD only |
1984 | Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death (TV - aka Masks of Death) | Alec MacDonald | Peter Cushing in the title role with John Mills as Watson investigating kidnapped royalty in 1913. | VHS only |
1985/1986 | Fresh and Fancy Fare / Country Fare (TV, New Zealand) | Info kindly supplied by Jack Yan: "Gordon provides the narration while a chef prepares meals on two cooking shows that aired during the weekend afternoons. Unusually, the chef's face is never seen, only the hands." | ||
1986 | "Only Love Remains" (Music video) | This was a Paul McCartney track whose video included several celebs, shot at Pinewood. Gordon is supposed to be playing an older version of the Beatles popster. (Thanks to Holger Schmitz and Jennifer Barnard for info!) | ||
1986 | The Whistle-blower (Film) | Bob | Notes adapted slightly from ones kindly sent by Jesper Antvorskov. Espionage thriller about a father's hunt for the killer of his son, who was a Russian language expert for the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. The movie is complex but exciting with a great performance from Michael Caine in the lead role. Gordon takes a small part as an MI6 "spook". We never learn anything about him except that he is an important player inside MI6 when it comes to secret operations. Indeed his character barely utters a few words throughout the proceedings! As always there is some really good acting from him. Felicity Dean who played Sara in 'The Female Factor' also appears. Also stars James Fox, Nigel Havers, John Gielgud and Barry Foster. | Click! |
1986 | My Brother Tom (TV mini-series, Australia) | Lockie MacGibbon | ||
1987 | Gunpowder (Film) | Sir Anthony Phelps | Low-budget James Bond skit. You might be able to find this is the bargain buckets of video shops. Gordon appears in just a three scenes, though. Thanks to Frank Harris for info! | |
1987 | Shaka Zulu (TV mini-series) | Professor Bramston | Marina Bailey kindly submitted the following review:
"A nine-part mini-series that was made [on location] (as far as I know, completely). If memory serves, Gordon had one or two scenes (as advisor to Queen Victoria) [but] his picture is even in the souvenir magazine. :-) "[It] was a very good mini-series [and] I have it on DVD. It was quite authentic in that all the British parts were played by British actors; all the Zulu parts were played by Zulu actors; all the 'Afrikaans' parts were played by South African Afrikaans actors, etc. Except everybody talked English, even during scenes when there were no English people around!" :-) |
Click! |
1988 | The Winslow Boy (TV) | Arthur Winslow | A man fights to clear his son of the offence that led to the boy's expulsion from a top Naval school. NB: A new version was made in 1999 and it is this that is available on video/DVD. The Jackson version remains unreleased. | |
1988 | Noble House (TV mini-series, UK/USA) | Superintendant Armstrong | Corporate in-fighting drama set in Hong Kong. | Click! |
1988 | J & B Whisky (promo film) | Apparently this was a ten-minute "advert". Does anyone remember it? | ||
1988 | Campion episode 'Look to the Lady'(TV) | Professor Cairey | Ex-Doctor Who star Peter Davison plays a 1920's private tec in this surprisingly short-lived BBC series. This two-part episode is good fun and Gordon is surprisingly sprightly. Tx: 22nd and 29th January 1989. | Click! |
1988 | Sesame Street (Legendary kids educational show, US) | Hudson | No, its not a joke, he really did appear alongsode Ernie, Burt, Kermit, Big Bird, Grover et al!! Jean Marsh and Gordon reprised their Upstairs Downstairs roles for a song entitled "Put Down the (Rubber) Duckie". Why should the Street be connected with Upstairs Downstairs? I have no idea. Perhaps the latter was enjoying a repeat run across the US at the time? The whole thing is bizarre but absolutely delightful!. | |
1988 (NEVER BROADCAST) | According to Daisy (TV) | George Pym | There is a sad situation regarding this show. This was a pilot episode (made by ITV regional company HTV) for a sitcom written as a vehicle for rising star Su Pollard (Hi-De-Hi, You Rang, M'Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching!). Her character was a high-flying journalist who needed help to keep her unruly kids out of trouble. Advertising for a Home Help, along came strict disciplinarian George Pym, played by Gordon. Although recorded and deemed a success, transmission was held back until a full season was ready. Unfortunately Su Pollard was was tied up with other projects until late 1989, by which time Gordon had fallen ill. Although Jeremy Brett was considered to replace Gordon, the project was shelved. Meanwhile the pilot remains untransmitted and, presumably, in HTV's vaults. (Many thanks indeed to Rob Cope). | |
1988 | An Invitation to Remember (TV Interview) | - | Gordon is interviewed by the late Brian Johnston. It's starts off a bit cheesey, really, with him dressed as Hudson from Upstairs Downstairs but the interview is excellent, although The Professionals get surprisingly little coverage. | |
1989 | The Lady and the Highwayman (Film) | Harry | Barbara Cartland period romance. New Avenger Gareth Hunt also makes a rare screen appearance. | Click! |
1989 | Mitsubishi TV ads (New Zealand) | Info kindly supplied by Jack Yan: "Gordon starred in a series of TV commercials (and related press advertisements) for the then-new Mitsubishi Galant, with very subtle hints that he is playing the Cowley role. One famous image – at least to antipodeans – shows three Galants, stacked, highlighting the car's strength ('Built strong to last'). A second shows a silver Galant on a test track with a single blue siren on the driver's side, while Gordon addresses a policeman as 'Laddie,' when the car is delivered to him. The latter was airing around the time of his passing and withdrawn soon afterwards." | ||
1989 | Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky TV ad (Australia) | A brief ad campaign (set on a golf course) commencing in late 1989 but withdrawn shortly after Gordon passed away. (Thanks to Simon Milton) | ||
1989 (tx: 1991) | BBC The Play on One episode 'Effie's Burning' (TV) | ? | Broadcast over a year after Gordon had passed away, this obscure television adaptation of a stage play saw him playing a tyrannical surgeon. Apparently the theme of the programme was spontaneous human combustion! The show seems to have received a single screening and never been repeated (at least, not in the UK). Does anybody have any memories of it? |
Dates | Play (and venue) | Character | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
1943 | George and Margaret (MSO Theatre, Ruthglen, Scotland) | Dudley | |
1944 | Master of Men (Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow) | ? | |
January 1951 | Seagulls over Sorrento (Apollo, London) | Able Seaman McIntosh | |
July 1955 | Moby Dick (Duke of York Theatre, London) | Ishmael | |
July 1958 | A Soldier's Tale (Sadler's Wells, London) | Narrator | |
October 1966 | Macbeth (Royal Court, London) | Banquo | |
September 1967 | A Soldier's Tale (Edinburgh Festival) | Narrator | |
October 1967 | Wise Child (Garrick, London) | Mr Booker | |
December 1968 | This Story of Yours (Royal Court, London) | Baxter | |
February 1969 | Hamlet (The Round House, London) | Horatio | |
May 1969 | Hamlet (Lunt/Fontaine Theater, New York) | Horatio | |
October 1969 | The Signalman's Apprentice (Oxford Playhouse) | Alfred | |
1970 | This Story of Yours (Oxford Playhouse) | ? | |
June 1970 | Hedda Gabbler (Ontario, Canada) | Tesman | |
September 1970 | Oedipus (?) | Creon | |
July 1971 - ??? 1972 | The Lovers of Viorne (The Royal Court, London) | The Interrogator | |
1971-72 | Veterans (The Royal Court, London) | Rodney | |
March 1973 | What Every Woman Knows (tour, several venues) | David | |
July 1975 | Macbeth (Aldwych RSC, London) | Banquo | |
May 1976 | Noah (Chichester Festival) | Noah | |
May 1976 | Twelfth Night (Chichester Festival) | Malvolio | |
22nd - 27th June 1981 | Deathtrap (Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham) | Sidney Bruhl | This play appears to have been performed as a tour - see next entry. (Thanks to Michelle Knight) |
27th July - 3rd August 1981 | Deathtrap (Richmond Theatre, Surrey) | Sidney Bruhl | Transfer of above. |
August 1981 | Deathtrap (Theatre Royal, Brighton) | Sidney Bruhl | Transfer of above. |
December 1981 | Cards on the Table (Theatre Royal, Brighton) | Superintendant Battle | |
December 1981 | Cards on the Table (Vaudeville Theatre, London) | Superintendant Battle | |
23 September to 6 November 1982 | Mass Appeal (The Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London) | Father Tim Farley | Described as an honest, funny and engaging play, a trainee priest (played by a young Rupert Everett) arrives in a parish to spread his own views on "truth", soon clashing with the area's Monsignor. Gordon's character - determined that the newcomer should be given a fair hearing - has to mediate. (Many thanks to Rachel Sainty) |
1987 | The Kingfisher (venue unknown) | Hawkins |