Barry Gordon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Barry Gordon
Born	(1948-12-21) December 21, 1948 (age 76) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor talk show host
Years active	1951–present
Spouse(s)	Sally Julian (divorced) Gail Schaper ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2
President of the Screen Actors Guild
In office April 13, 1988 – July 11, 1995
Preceded by	Patty Duke
Succeeded by	Richard Masur

Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and a host of political talk shows. He is well-known for being the original voice of Donatello and Bebop in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. He was also the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, a union for actors, from 1988 to 1995. In 1963, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in the play A Thousand Clowns.

Early Life and Beginnings

Barry Gordon was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in the United States. His stepfather, Bob Manning, was a popular singer in the 1940s and 1950s.

Starting as a Child Performer

Barry Gordon started performing when he was just three years old. For his first TV appearance, he won second place on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour by singing "Cry." When he was six, he recorded the song "Nuttin' for Christmas." This song became a big hit in 1955, selling over one million copies. This made him the youngest performer to have a song on the Billboard charts at that time.

As a child actor, Barry appeared on many popular TV shows. These included The Jackie Gleason Show, The Jack Benny Program, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. He also had a role as Chopper in an episode of Leave It to Beaver. In 1956, he made his first movie appearance in The Girl Can't Help It.

Broadway and Film Roles

When he was 13, Barry Gordon began acting on Broadway, which is New York City's famous theater district. He played the character Nick in the play A Thousand Clowns. His performance was so good that he was nominated for a Tony Award, which is a very important award for theater actors. He later played the same role in the movie version of A Thousand Clowns in 1965.

Acting Career as an Adult

As Barry grew up, he continued to act in many films and TV shows. He became known as a "character actor," meaning he often played interesting and unique supporting roles.

Notable TV Appearances

In the 1970s, Barry appeared in the TV show Fish. He was also a regular on The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1973 to 1974. Later, he had a recurring role as Gary Rabinowitz, a lawyer, on the show Archie Bunker's Place. He also made guest appearances on popular shows like Barney Miller and NYPD Blue. Fans of Star Trek might remember him from his roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. More recently, he played a Rabbi on Larry David's show Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Voice Acting Work

Barry Gordon is very well-known for his voice acting. His most famous voice roles are Donatello and Bebop in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. He also voiced Jake "Razor" Clawson in SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron.

He lent his voice to many other animated shows, including:

• Jabberjaw (as Clamhead)
• The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (as Captain Marvel Jr.)
• Pac-Man (as Inky)
• Snorks (as Junior Wetworth)
• A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (as Englebert Newton)
• Darkwing Duck (as Dr. Fossil)
• Batman: The Animated Series (as Sheldrake)

Barry also provided the voice for "Quicky" the Nesquik Bunny in commercials for Nestlé. In 2012, he returned to voice the original Donatello and Bebop in Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. In 2022, he reprised his role as Donatello for the video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.

Other Activities

In 1984, Barry Gordon went back to school and studied political science. He then went to law school and earned his law degree in 1991.

He served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild for seven years, which is the longest anyone has held that position. This union helps protect the rights of actors.

In 1998, he ran for the United States Congress as a member of the Democratic Party in California, but he was not elected.

Barry Gordon has also hosted several political talk shows on radio and television. Since 2007, he has taught classes about politics and media at California State University, Los Angeles.

Personal Life

Barry Gordon is married to Gail Schaper, a business psychologist, since 1993. They have two children together.

Film and Television Roles

Film Appearances

Television Appearances

Video Game Roles

Music Recordings

Albums

• Bright Idea / A Fairy Tale (1965)
• Yes Sir, That's My Baby (1966)
• Pieces Of Time (1971)
• Distant Songs (1989)
• Santa Swings (1997)
• The World Is Mine / The Pop Recordings 1964-1971 (2019) (Compilation Album)

Singles and EPs

• I Can Whistle (1956)
• Rock Around Mother Goose (1956)
• Rock Little Chillun (1956)
• 10 Years To Go (1956)
• I Like Christmas (I Like It, I Like It) / Zoomah, The Santa Claus From Mars (1956)
• Yes! We Have No Bananas / The Thief (1957)
• They / Katy (1958)
• Rabbit Habit / The Bluebird Song (1958)
• She's Got Soul (1961)
• You Can't Lie To A Liar / You Can't See The Trees (For The Forest) (1962)
• Go Back Little Tear (1964)
• Sealed With A Kiss (1965)
• Let Me Try (1965)
• True Love Can Never Die (1965)
• Angelica (1967)
• The Girl I Left Behind / A House Built On Sand (1968)
• The Days Of Pearly Spencer (1968)
• You Can't Love A Child Like A Woman (1969)