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Keith Gordon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keith Gordon
Born (1961-02-03) February 3, 1961 (age 63)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, film director
Years active1975–present
Spouse
Rachel Griffin
(m. 1998)
FatherMark Gordon

Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director.

Early life

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Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon.[1] He grew up in an atheist Jewish family.[2] Gordon was inspired to become an actor at the age of twelve, after seeing James Earl Jones in a Broadway production of Of Mice and Men.[3]

Career

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As an actor, Gordon's first feature film role was that of class clown Doug in Jaws 2 (the 1978 sequel to the blockbuster hit Jaws). In 1979 Gordon appeared in Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical All That Jazz as the teenage version of the film's protagonist Joe Gideon (played by Gordon's Jaws 2 co-star Roy Scheider). Gordon then appeared in two films by Brian De Palma: as a film student in Home Movies (1979) and in the 1980 erotic thriller Dressed to Kill as the son of Angie Dickinson's character. Gordon played Arnie Cunningham, the main character (who buys the titular car Christine), in the 1983 horror film Christine, directed by John Carpenter from the novel by Stephen King. In the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean Gordon played Lloyd Muldaur, the son of a District Attorney who aspires to be Attorney General. He was in the 1986 Mark Romanek film Static, and he wrote the screenplay. In the 1986 comedy movie Back to School, Gordon played Jason Melon, the son of Rodney Dangerfield's character.[4] In most of these films, he played a nerd. He was named number 1 in Cinematicals' Top 7 Most Convincing Nerds. His most recent onscreen film appearance was in 2001, in the movie Delivering Milo.

Gordon left acting for directing, making his debut in 1988 with the movie The Chocolate War, about a student who rebels against the rigid hierarchies in his Catholic school. His other films include the 1992 anti-war film A Midnight Clear, about a group of American soldiers in the Ardennes just before and during the Battle of the Bulge, as well as Mother Night (adapted from the novel by Kurt Vonnegut), Waking the Dead, and the film The Singing Detective. He also directed some of the mini-series Wild Palms and appeared in the 2006 Iraq War documentary Whose War?. His directing credits for television include Homicide: Life on the Street, Gideon's Crossing, Dexter, The Bridge, House and the second and third seasons of Fargo.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Director Producer Writer
1985 Static No Yes Yes
1988 The Chocolate War Yes No Yes
1992 A Midnight Clear Yes No Yes
1996 Mother Night Yes Yes No
2000 Waking the Dead Yes Yes No
2003 The Singing Detective Yes No No

Acting roles

Year Title Role
1978 Jaws 2 Doug Fetterman
1979 Meeting Halfway Unknown role
Studs Lonigan Young Paulie Haggerty
All That Jazz Young Joe Gideon
1980 Home Movies Dennis Byrd
Dressed to Kill Peter Miller
1981 Kent State Jeffrey Miller
1982 Silent Rebellion Chris
1983 Christine Arnie Cunningham
1984 Single Bars, Single Women Lionel
1985 The Legend of Billie Jean Lloyd Muldaur
Static Ernie Blick
1986 Back to School Jason Melon
Combat Academy Maxwell 'Max' Mendelsson
1994 I Love Trouble Andy
1997 The Player Unknown role
2001 Delivering Milo Mr. Baumgartner

Television

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Director

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Year Title Episode(s)
1993 Wild Palms "Hungry Ghosts"
"The Floating World"
1994 Homicide: Life on the Street "Extreme Unction"
1995 Fallen Angels "The Black Bargain"
2002 Shadow Realm/Night Visions "Patterns"
2005 House M.D. "Sports Medicine"
2010 Rubicon "In Whom We Trust"
2013 Rectify "Always Be There" (Also executive producer)
2011–2013 The Killing "Beau Soleil"
"Donnie or Marie"
"Eminent Domain"
2006–2013 Dexter "Truth Be Told"
"The Dark Defender"
"Morning Comes"
"Our Father"
"All in the Family"
"Do You Take Dexter Morgan"
"Dirty Harry"
"Lost Boys"
"In the Beginning"
"Beautiful Day"
2013–2014 The Bridge "The Beetle"
"Yankee"
2014 The Strain "It's Not for Everyone"
Masters of Sex "Blackbird"
2015 The Returned "Camille" (Also executive producer)
2014–2015 Nurse Jackie "Nancy Wood"
"Nice Ladies"
2014–2017 The Leftovers "Two Boats and a Helicopter"
"Ten Thirteen"
"Don't Be Ridiculous"
2017 Better Call Saul "Off Brand"
2015–2017 Fargo "Did You Do This? No, You Did It!"
"Loplop"
"Aporia"
"Somebody to Love"
2018 Legion "Chapter 19"
2013–2020 Homeland "Good Night"
"Trylon and Perisphere"
"Super Powers"
"Fair Game"
"The Man in the Basement"
"False Friends"
2020 Dispatches from Elsewhere "The Creator"

Actor

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Year Title Role Episode(s)
1975 Medical Center Herbie "The Price of a Child"
1982 American Playhouse Chris Panakos "My Palikari"
1989 Miami Vice Prof. Terrence Baines "Leap of Faith"
1990 WIOU George Lewis "Do the Wrong Thing"
"Mother Nature's Son"
1993 Brooklyn Bridge Cousin Herbie "The Wild Pitch"
2009 Dexter Kyle Butler #2 "Hello, Dexter Morgan"
2018 On Cinema Himself "The 5th Annual Live On Cinema Oscar Special"

Award nominations

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Independent Spirit Awards
Best Screenplay – A Midnight Clear (1992)
Best First Feature – The Chocolate War (1988)
Sitges – Catalan International Film Festival
Best Film – The Singing Detective (2003)

References

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  1. ^ "Keith Gordon Biography (1961-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cashiers du Cinemart Issue 10: Interview: Keith Gordon". Impossiblefunky.com. March 3, 2000. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  3. ^ "Keith Gordon Biography". Movies.yahoo.com. April 20, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  4. ^ "CHRISTINE Revisited, Part One: A Q&A with Keith Gordon". Fangoria.com. April 20, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
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