Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordonwas an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show. Gordon also had starring roles in Ball's successful third series Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth and final series Life with Lucy...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth20 February 1906
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
When I'd tell people that I wanted $150 they almost fainted. They thought I was an upstart and an egomaniacal idiot.
Lucille would never allow anyone to double for her. If she had to learn how to ice skate, she'd ice skate. If she had to go down a staircase on skis then that's what she'd do. She wouldn't allow a double to do it because the cameras were very close. She thought it would be ridiculous to use a double.
For comedy to be good, it has to be played straight. And again, the greatest example of this is Lucy Ball. No matter how wild the shows were that we did, no matter how bizarre the situations were, they were never played as if they were funny. They were played like serious incidents of ordinary everyday life. And that's why they are terribly funny and are still considered classic comedies.
Lucille didn't care about messing herself up. A lot of stars of her stature wouldn't do physical comedy because they were afraid they'd get their hair messed up or they'd look bad. I remember once she fell into a vat of green dye. She came out with not only her hair green but everything was green!