Gerald Gordon; TV Soap Opera Star, Veteran Film Actor

Gerald Gordon, a popular Emmy Award-winning soap opera star who portrayed a high-strung neurosurgeon on “The Doctors” and “General Hospital,” has died. He was 67.

Gordon, also a character in such prime-time fare as “The Twilight Zone” and “Law & Order,” died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long illness.

Known for his rugged good looks, Gordon dominated soap opera magazine covers from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. In the 1990s, he played a lawyer on another popular daytime drama, “All My Children.”

Gordon earned his Emmy in 1976 as outstanding actor in a daytime drama special for his role as President Andrew Jackson in NBC’s “First Ladies’ Diaries: Rachel Jackson.”

Gordon was probably best known on the big screen for his role as attorney F. Lee Bailey in the 1988 motion picture “Patty Hearst,” which detailed the heiress’ kidnapping and brainwashing by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

The actor also appeared in such films as “One Man’s Way,” “Mirage” and “40 Pounds of Trouble,” as well as a number of movies for television, including HBO’s “Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story” in 1992.

A native of Chicago, Gordon studied acting with Viola Spolin at Northwestern University and then moved to New York to study with Lee Strasberg. He began his career on the stage, appearing in Broadway and off-Broadway productions of such plays as “The Private Life of the Master Race” and “The Threepenny Opera.”

Ranging from heavies to comics to roles in between, Gordon was cast in several television series over his long career, including “Have Gun Will Travel,” “Dallas,” “Valerie,” “The Hogan Family,” “Highcliffe Manor,” “Naked City,” “Knight Rider,” “Perfect Strangers,” “One Day at a Time” and “Baywatch.”

Gordon is survived by his wife, screenwriter Nance McCormick; a brother, Donald of Munster, Ind.; and a sister, Dee Zlotich of Anchorage.

His wife said a memorial service is pending and asked that any memorial donations be made to the Actors Fund in New York City.