Susan Gordon

Susan Gordon was an American actress who appeared in films and numerous episodes of television programs such as The [Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone], My Three Sons, and The Donna Reed Show.

Life and career

Gordon was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of film director Bert I. Gordon and his wife, Flora Gordon. She began her career, at age eight, as a last-minute substitute for another young actress in 1958's Attack of the Puppet People, directed by her father, who subsequently directed her in three additional films — The Boy and the Pirates, Tormented and 1966's Picture Mommy Dead, her final film. In 1959, she acted and sang in the semi-biographical film, The Five Pennies, playing the daughter of musician, composer and bandleader Red Nichols, portrayed by Danny Kaye.
On television, Gordon appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "The Fugitive", as Jenny, a child with a leg brace who befriends an alien. Other series included Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, My Three Sons, The Danny Thomas Show, Route 66, Ben Casey, 77 Sunset Strip and The Donna Reed Show. On November 27, 1959, Gordon appeared in the live NBC Television broadcast of Miracle on 34th Street.
Coming out of a decade-long retirement, Ms. Gordon appeared Off-Broadway in 2002 in A Magic Place in a New Time. Previous to that, she was an understudy for the long-running hit Nunsense.

Death

She was a resident of the New Jersey township of Teaneck, where she had settled after returning to her Jewish roots and marrying Avi Aviner, who had been a leader of the Jewish community in Tokyo. She died on December 11, 2011, of thyroid cancer, aged 62. She was buried in Kedumim, an Israeli settlement.

Selected filmography

Attack of the Puppet People The Five Pennies Tormented The Boy and the Pirates Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Kate 'Katie' KendallThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Betty Fletcher

''Picture Mommy Dead''