Alvin Lawrence Gordon (April 21, 1923 – May 23, 2012) was an American television comedy writer. He was best known for his work on shows such as ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televi ...

'', ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Ha ...

'', and ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom '' Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single roo ...

''.

Early life

Gordon was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, the middle of three children born to Nathan Gordon (né Gorodetsky), a jeweler and Sylvia Gordon (née Milton), Jewish immigrants from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. The family relocated to

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

in his early childhood. He served in the Air Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was stationed in

The Azores ) , motto= ( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem=( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, where he pitched jokes to a troupe of writers stranded on the island. Post-War, these writers invited him to move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, where he began his comedy career in earnest.

Career

After a brief stint working for

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences ...

, Al found work with ''

'' prior to its move to television. With partner

Hal Goldman Harold "Hal" Goldman (December 5, 1919 – June 27, 2001) was an American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a pro ...

, he co-ran the radio show when Benny transitioned to television. Gordon, along with Goldman and the other Benny writers, received both the 1959 and 1960 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Both Gordon and Goldman continued to work for Benny until his death in 1974. In addition to his work for Benny, Gordon worked on dozens of other projects, including ''

'', '' 227'', and ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sche ...

'', where a young

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominat ...

got his start. Gordon also won the

1966 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Variety Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméog ...

for a

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway theatre, Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily id ...

special, ''

An Evening With Carol Channing An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian a ...

''. He was nominated for seven other Emmys. Notably, throughout his career, Al was employed for every single television season until his retirement.

Personal life

Gordon married Charlotte (née Berkus), a first cousin, once removed of

Nate Berkus Nathan Jay Berkus (born September 17, 1971) is an American interior designer, author, and television personality. He runs the Chicago interior design firm Nate Berkus Associates and was a regularly featured guest on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', off ...

, and together, they had two children: Neil Gordon (b. 1953), a television director, and Jill (b. 1955), a television writer. His granddaughter, Victoria Gordon, is also a comedy writer and performer. Gordon retired in the early 1990s and spent much of the 90s and early 2000s as a caregiver to his wife, who had Alzheimer's disease. She was a resident of the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and meas ...

until her death in 2008. Al's death was announced in May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Al 1923 births 2012 deaths American writers of Russian descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Writers from Akron, Ohio Writers from the Bronx Writers from Los Angeles American male television writers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American comedy writers Primetime Emmy Award winners