C. Henry Gordon

Biography

C. Henry Gordon (New York City, 1883 - Los Angeles, 1940) was an American stage and film actor, best remembered for his frequent villainous roles in Hollywood during the 1930s. Before turning to acting, he tried his hand at running a silver mine in New Mexico, a venture that did not succeed. He came to acting almost by chance, accompanying his sister to an audition, where the director asked him to read a part and soon made him a member of the troupe.

He built a long career on and off Broadway before appearing in films. His first screen work dates from 1911, with George Beban in New York, but his film career took off from 1930 onward. Between that year and 1940 he appeared in more than seventy films, often as a heavy, and he regularly played characters of other ethnic backgrounds. His credits include Scarface, The Charge of the Light Brigade, opposite Errol Flynn, and The Crusades.

His legacy is that of a prolific character actor, present in much of the studio cinema of his era rather than in popular memory. He died in Los Angeles in December 1940, the day after one of his legs was amputated because of a blood clot.

Key films

• Scarface (1932): a supporting role as a police inspector within the gangster drama.
• The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936): plays Surat Khan, one of the antagonists opposite the lead in this military epic.
• The Crusades (1935): plays Philip II, King of France, in Cecil B. DeMille's large-scale historical film.
• Men in White (1934): plays Dr. Cunningham in this hospital drama.