Joyce Gordon

Joyce Gordon
Born(1929-03-25)March 25, 1929
Des Moines, Iowa, United States
DiedFebruary 28, 2020(2020-02-28) (aged 90)
Alma materUniversity of Illinois
University of Wisconsin
OccupationActress
SpouseBernard Grant
Children2

Joyce Gordon (March 25, 1929–February 28, 2020) was an American actress.

Early life

Joyce Gordon was born on March 25, 1929, in Des Moines, Iowa, to Jule and Diana (Cohn) Gordon.[1] Her father was the founder of the National Barber and Beauty Manufacturers Association.[2] She grew up in Chicago, later attending the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin.[3] In her late teens, she left Chicago and went to New York to seek opportunities to appear on television programs.[2][4]

Career

On television, Gordon appeared on The Ad-Libbers,[5] Studio One and Robert Montgomery Presents.[6] She also acted in commercials, at one point appearing daily on CBS as she promoted different products.[4] Gordon was the on screen spokeswoman for Crisco and Duncan Hines and did numerous promos for sports and news programs.[3] She was the first woman of many things in her field. In the 1950s, she became the first woman to do network promos, and the first woman announcer for a political convention on network television.[7] She was very active in the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and became the first woman to lead a local branch of the union when she became president of the New York branch in 1966.[3] She was the first person to wear glasses on television while playing herself, earning her the nickname "The Girl With the Glasses".[1] She was also the voice of the Intercept messages for callers hear when dialing an disconnected number, forgetting to dial a 1, and others[8]She is commonly played on Verizon Wireline Exchanges and Ziply Fiber Exchanges (Former Verizon, GTE and Frontier).

Gordon provided English-language voices for actresses who spoke other languages including Jeanne Moreau and Claudia Cardinale,[2] such as for Once Upon a Time in the West. Over a two-year span, she dubbed 32 films that originally had dialog in other languages.[9]

On radio, Gordon portrayed Cherry on Mark Trail[10] and Barbara Miller on the comedy My Son Jeep.[11]

Personal life and death

Gordon was married to actor Bernard Grant for more than 50 years,[2] and they had two children, Mark and Melissa. She died on February 28, 2020 at age 90.[6][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Roberts, Sam (March 4, 2020). "Joyce Gordon, Who Broke the Glasses Ceiling on TV, Dies at 90". New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c d Langer, Emily (March 8, 2020). "Joyce Gordon, trailblazing bespectacled pitchwoman". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Washington Post. p. B 9. Retrieved September 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d Robb, David (February 29, 2020). "Joyce Gordon Dies: Pioneering Actress And SAG Leader Was 90". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Television Viewers Hail Joyce Gordon's Glasses". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Wisconsin, Green Bay. April 7, 1963. p. 12. Retrieved September 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  6. ^ a b Beresford, Trilby (February 29, 2020). "Joyce Gordon, First Female President of Screen Actors Guild Branch, Dies at 90". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Robb, David (2020-02-29). "Joyce Gordon Dies: Pioneering Actress And SAG Leader Was 90". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  8. ^ "Joyce Gordon, trailblazing 'girl who wears glasses' on TV, dies at 90". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  9. ^ Bolton, Whitney (February 15, 1960). "Glancing Sideways". Cumberland Evening Times. Maryland, Cumberland. McNaught Syndicate, Inc. p. 6. Retrieved September 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.
  11. ^ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.


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