William D. Gordon

Born: 1918-01-04

William Douglas Gordon was an American actor, writer, director, story editor, and producer. Although he is best known for his writing credits, he acted occasionally on numerous TV series. Gordon was born in Santa Clara, California, in 1918. He started his career as a writer in 1936, writing for radio shows like The Cisco Kid, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Tommy Dorsey Show. In 1939, he began to direct TV shows, directing the first live television shows for the Don Lee Network and later he served as an infantry officer during World War II. In 1958, he acted for the first time in Maverick, appearing subsequently in TV series including Maverick, The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Peter Gunn, Law of the Plainsman, Riverboat, Rawhide, The Americans and The Virginian during the 1960s. He also worked as a script writer for shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Ironside and Barbary Coast, in addition to writing the screenplay of the films Cotter and Sergeant Ryker. As a director, he directed one episode of The Richard Boone Show titled "Death Before Dishonor" and another of The Fugitive titled "A.P.B.". On March 31, 1965, he became the producer of Twelve O'Clock High, producing 47 episodes of the series, in addition to producing 32 episodes of The Fugitive between 1964 and 1966. He worked as a story supervisor of The Richard Boone Show, Bonanza, Thriller and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and directed the television game show Queen for a Day. From 1977 to 1982, Gordon, along with James Doherty, helped to produce, write and edit the TV series CHiPs. After retirement, Gordon began writing novels about the Civil War. Gordon died in Thousand Oaks, California of lung cancer aged 73


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The Twilight Zone: A 60th Anniversary Celebration

as Doctor (archive footage)
Released: 2019-11-14

Six episodes of the original series, restored and on the big screen for the first time, and a...

Movie page

Maverick

as Sam Garth
First aired: 1957-09-22

The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers...

TV Show page

The Twilight Zone

as George
First aired: 1959-10-02

A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science...

TV Show page

The Twilight Zone

as Doctor
First aired: 1959-10-02

A series of unrelated stories containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science...

TV Show page

Hunter

as Minister
First aired: 1984-09-18

Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred...

TV Show page

Riverboat

as Joe Travis
First aired: 1959-09-13

Riverboat is a 44-episode western television series starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds...

TV Show page

Black Saddle

as Doctor Wall
First aired: 1959-01-10

Black Saddle is an American Western television series starring Peter Breck that aired 44...

TV Show page

Law of the Plainsman

as Deke
First aired: 1959-10-01

Law of the Plainsman is a Western television series starring Michael Ansara that aired on the...

TV Show page