RIP Joyce Gordon
Joyce Gordon, Actress and First Woman SAG Branch President,
Dead at 90
Pop Culture
By Daniel S. Levine
February 29, 2020
Commercial and voiceover actress Joyce Gordon, who was the first woman to serve as the president of a Screen Actors Guild branch, died late Friday. She was 90 years old. Her death was announced by SAG-AFTRA Saturday.
"Joyce was everything you could want in a SAG-AFTRA
member and leader: intelligent, talented, unceasingly dedicated to her fellow
performers, and a warm and generous friend," SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle
Carteris said in a statement. "Her stature as a pitchwoman and voiceover
talent was indispensable in convincing the advertising industry to take
seriously the concerns of commercial performers in the early days of that
contract. Our hearts go out to Joyce’s family."
During the days of live television, she appeared in
commercials that aired during The Jack Paar Show, Hugh Downs
and The Price Is Right. A whole chapter of Alice Whitfield's 1992 book
about the voiceover industry, Take It From The Top, was devoted to
Gordon.
Gordon also played dramatic roles, appearing on live
television shows at the beginning of her career. She also used her voiceover
skills for English dubs of classic movies when the practice was still common in
the U.S.
She was most famously the voice of Claudia Cardinale in Sergio Leone's Once
Upon A Time In The West. She also appeared as a judge in episodes of Law
& Order late in life.
Gordon was also active in SAG. In 1959, when actor Howard
Keel was SAG's president, she was among the first 12 branch members on the
National Board, and the only woman in the group. In 1966, she became the
president of the New York SAG branch. Later, she was a SAG-AFTRA Motion Picture
Player Welfare Fund trustee and supported the merger of SAG and the American
Federation of Television and Radio Arts.
"We are deeply saddened by Joyce’s passing," SAG-AFTRA Health Plan
and SAG-Producers Pension Plan Chief Executive Officer Michael Estrada said in
a statement. "She was a passionate and committed trustee for over three
decades and worked tirelessly on behalf of our participants. We extend our
deepest condolences to her family and friends."
"I am deeply grieved at the loss of my dear friend and
colleague of nearly 40 years. Joyce was a tremendous advocate for our union,
its members and especially actors and their families," SAG-AFTRA
Foundation Treasurer, SAG-AFTRA Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund Chairman
and former SAG New York Branch President Maureen Donnelly added. "She was
one of the creators of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Scholarship in honor of Jack
Dales providing crucial financial support to members and their children
pursuing an education. Joyce was a passionate advocate for New York members in her work as a trustee
for MPPWF."
Gordon is survived by her son, daughter, grandson and
sister. She was married for over 50 years to actor Bernard Grant, who died in
2004.
GORDON, Joyce
Born: 3/25/1929, Des Moines, Iowa,
U.S.A.
Died: 2/28/2020, U.S.A.
Joyce Gordon’s
westerns – voice actress:
For a Few Dollars More – 1965 [English voice of Mara Krup]
Once Upon a Time in the West – 1968 [English voice of
Claudia Cardinale]
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