Gordon Heath (September 20, 1918 – August 27, 1991) was an American actor and musician who narrated the animated feature film ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

'' (1954) and appeared in the title role of ''

The Emperor Jones ''The Emperor Jones'' is a 1920 tragic play by American dramatist Eugene O'Neill that tells the tale of Brutus Jones, a resourceful, self-assured African American and a former Pullman porter, who kills another black man in a dice game, is jailed, ...

'' (1953) and ''Othello'' (1955), both live BBC telecasts, respectively directed by

Alvin Rakoff Alvin Rakoff (born Abraham Rakoff; February 6, 1927) is a Canadian director of film, television and theatre productions. He has worked with actors including Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Rex Harrison, Rod Steiger, Hen ...

and

Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film '' Tom Jones''. Earl ...

Biography

Heath was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, his parents' only child. His father Cyril Gordon Heath had emigrated from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

to the US, where he met and married Hattie Hooper. Gordon Heath showed an early talent for both music and art, but opted to pursue an acting career, working on stage and radio. Joining the New York radio station WMCA in 1945 he became the first black staff announcer employed by a major US radio station. In 1945 he appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

to great success in the play ''

Deep Are the Roots ''Deep Are the Roots'' is a 1945 play by Arnaud d'Usseau and James Gow about a decorated African-American soldier who has returned from World War II. Plot Brett is an African American who grew up in the home of a former senator as the child of a ...

'', written by Arnaud d'Usseau and James Gow, directed by

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

, and starring

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...

. The play ran for 447 performances, and when it was subsequently produced in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

, Heath reprised his co-starring role in it. After the six-month London run, Heath decided to settle in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, in 1948. He also acted in Paris, and in 1950 in London he played

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

on stage and later for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

. He directed an English-speaking production company, the Studio Theater of Paris, for 10 years, from the 1960s. He and his music and life partner Lee Payant operated a

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

café in Paris called L'Abbaye, whose clientele included the actress

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

and other celebrities of the era, and where Heath and Payant were the entertainers.Bruce Eder
Biography of Gordon Heath and Lee Payant
AllMusic. Many of the duo's

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

albums from the 1950s were recorded there and released on various international labels, including

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

. Payant died on December 14, 1976. Heath died in Paris after a lengthy illness on August 27, 1991.

Filmography

Select discography

*''Gordon Heath and Lee Payant Sing Songs of the Abbaye'' ‒ Elektra (1954) *''Chants Tradionnels des Etats-Unis'' – Editions de la Boite à Musique LD 313 (1955) *''Gordon Heath and Lee Payant Sing Encores from the Abbaye'' ‒ Elektra (1955) *''Folksongs and Footnotes'' – Abbaye Record 1 (1956) *'' An Evening at L'Abbaye'' – Elektra (1957) *''Abbaye Anniversary Album'' – Abbaye Record 2 (1959) *''Gordon Heath Sings Spirituals'' – Abbaye Record 3 (1961)

References

Bibliography

* Bourne, Stephen. "Heath, Gordon." ''Who's Who in Contemporary Gay & Lesbian History from World War II to the Present Day''.

Robert Aldrich Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include ''Vera Cruz'' (1954), '' Kiss Me Deadly'' (1955), '' The Big Knife'' (1955), '' Autumn ...

and Garry Wotherspoon, eds. London and New York: Routledge, 2001. 183. *Breman, Paul. "Obituary: Gordon Heath." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' (London) (September 13, 1991): 26. *Heath, Gordon. ''Deep Are the Roots: Memoirs of a Black Expatriate''. Amherst: The

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts an ...

, 1992. *Shipman, David. "Obituary: Gordon Heath." ''The Independent'' (London) (September 2, 1991): 21.

External links

Gordon Heath
on ''lgbtq.com'' *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Gordon 1918 births 1991 deaths African-American male actors American gay actors LGBT African Americans 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 20th-century LGBT people American expatriates in France