Al Gordon obit

Comedy writer Al Gordon dies at 89

Three-time Emmy winner wrote for Jack Benny 

He was not on the list.

Emmy winner Al Gordon, a comedy writer for Jack Benny’s series and specials, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” “The Carol Burnett Show” as well as sitcoms including “Three’s Company,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles after suffering a seizure. He was 89.

Gordon, who began in radio, won three Emmys and was nominated for seven more over the course of a four-decade career in television.

The comedy scribe was credited on 222 episodes of “The Jack Benny Program” from 1954-65, picking up two Emmys and a total of six nominations along the way. (During the 1950s he also wrote for “The Red Skelton Hour” and “The Gale Storm Show.”) When the Benny program ended, Gordon continued to work for the comedian by contributing to specials such as “Jack Benny’s Bag” and “Jack Benny’s Birthday Special” in the late 1960s.

He penned an episode of “Get Smart” in 1965 and shared an Emmy in 1966 for his work on the variety special “An Evening With Carol Channing.” Gordon drew Emmy noms in 1968 for his contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show,” in 1969 for his efforts on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” and another in 1971 for “Jack Benny’s Twentieth Anniversary Special.”

He continued to work in the variety genre in the 1970s, writing for Flip Wilson’s “Flip” and “Tony Orlando and Dawn,” but segued into work on sitcoms as the popularity of variety shows faded, penning episodes of “That’s My Mama,” “Carter Country,” “Hello, Larry” and “Three’s Company.” He also scripted an episode of “Too Close for Comfort” and 15 episodes of the Marla Gibb starrer “227.”

Born in Akron, Ohio, Gordon moved to the Bronx amid the deprivations of the Depression.

He is survived by his son Neil, a producer, and two granddaughters.

Services will be Friday at noon at Hillside Memorial Park, 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, Los Angeles.

Gordon was born in Akron, Ohio in 1923 but moved to The Bronx as a child. He was the middle of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister. After finishing high school, Al joined the Air Corps and spent time on bases throughout the US before moving to Tersiera. A plane of entertainers arrived at his station, and several of the men in the barrack were writers. As they labored on a Broadway-bound show, APO Zoot, Al offered writing ideas and suggestions. One year later, these same writers flew Al to Hollywood, where he got his start as a radio writer for Jack Benny. From the time he started until he retired in the early 1990's, Al was employed every single television season. His knack for quick thinking, combined with his partner's speedy typing, powered his career in sitcoms. A pioneer in entertainment, Al won three Primetime Emmys and received nine nominations in his lifetime. Al was married to Charlotte Berkus (who was a first cousin twice removed to Nate Berkus) until her death in 2008. In the last eight years of her life, Al was her constant companion through a battle with Alzheimer's disease. They had two children: director/producer Neil Gordon and writer Jill Gordon. Al passed away suddenly in May 2012. His comedy expertise lives on in his grandchildren, including writer/actress 'Victoria Gordon (II)' and director Natalie Gordon.

In 1967, he co-wrote the teleplay for an unsold comedy pilot about two elderly, retired superheroes who must once again don their leotards to do battle with a super-villain who has been set free and has vowed to destroy the world.

He lived the first seven years on a farm outside Akron, Ohio. At the beginning of the Great Depression in 1930, his parent moved to the Bronx in New York City where he moved six times and attended five elementary schools. He joined the military while a student at Theodore Roosevelt High School and never graduated.

 

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