Biography
Born on December 21, 1948, Barry Gordon found his destiny aligned with a seasonal novelty that would become his signature success. The Brookline, Massachusetts, native first stepped in front of television cameras at age three on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour and later performed on The Jackie Gleason Show as well as Star Time with Benny Goodman.
Signed to MGM Records, seven-year-old Gordon recorded the children's tune "Nuttin' for Christmas," composed by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The same songwriting team supplied "Bagel and Lox," "Bullfighter Was a Lady," "The Angel in the Fountain," and material for the Elvis Presley films Jailhouse Rock, Flaming Star, G.I. Blues, and Blue Hawaii. Paired as a single with "Santa Claus Looks Just Like Daddy," the track climbed to number six on Billboard's pop chart dated December 31, 1955. Gordon's next release, "Rock Around Mother Goose" backed with "Seven," reached number 52 pop early in 1956; although he kept cutting sides into his thirties, no further entries charted.
On screen he portrayed a leering paperboy in the 1956 Jayne Mansfield feature The Girl Can't Help It and logged appearances on such programs as The Jack Benny Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. At fourteen he earned a Tony nomination for playing Nick in the Broadway production A Thousand Clowns, reprising the part in the 1965 film adaptation that starred Jason Robards and Sandy Dennis.
Gordon took the lead in the 1967 feature Out of It, embodying an intellectually precocious high-school outsider. Adopting a nebbish persona reminiscent of Woody Allen, he populated television comedies including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Don Rickles Show, A Family for Joe, the Barney Miller spin-off Fish, and Archie Bunker's Place. Throughout the 1990s he supplied voices for animated series and commercials, most notably voicing the scholarly, blue-bandanna-clad Donatello on the phenomenally successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, originally syndicated and later broadcast for multiple seasons on CBS's Saturday-morning lineup. He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Additional singles issued on MGM include "Girl I Left Behind," "Rock Little Chillun" backed with "Pretty Lil Girl Next Door," "Santa Claus Looks Just Like Daddy" backed with "3," and "Yes We Have No Bananas" backed with "Thief." Dunhill released "Ramshackle Guy" backed with "Days of Pearly Spencer" and "Take Off the Veil" backed with "You Can't Love a Child." United Artists issued "Talk, Talk, Talk" backed with "Sealed With a Kiss," while Era offered "They" backed with "Katy," Cadence released "You Can't Lie to a Liar" backed with "You Can't See the Trees," and another single appeared titled "Zoomah Santa From Mars." His long-form releases comprise the MGM album Rock Little Children and the Telarc CD Distant Songs.
"Nuttin' for Christmas" appears on the 1989 Rhino compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present and on Collectables Records' Oldies Radio K-Earth 101 FM: Vol. 2-Ultimate Christmas Album.
Signed to MGM Records, seven-year-old Gordon recorded the children's tune "Nuttin' for Christmas," composed by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett. The same songwriting team supplied "Bagel and Lox," "Bullfighter Was a Lady," "The Angel in the Fountain," and material for the Elvis Presley films Jailhouse Rock, Flaming Star, G.I. Blues, and Blue Hawaii. Paired as a single with "Santa Claus Looks Just Like Daddy," the track climbed to number six on Billboard's pop chart dated December 31, 1955. Gordon's next release, "Rock Around Mother Goose" backed with "Seven," reached number 52 pop early in 1956; although he kept cutting sides into his thirties, no further entries charted.
On screen he portrayed a leering paperboy in the 1956 Jayne Mansfield feature The Girl Can't Help It and logged appearances on such programs as The Jack Benny Show, The Danny Thomas Show, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. At fourteen he earned a Tony nomination for playing Nick in the Broadway production A Thousand Clowns, reprising the part in the 1965 film adaptation that starred Jason Robards and Sandy Dennis.
Gordon took the lead in the 1967 feature Out of It, embodying an intellectually precocious high-school outsider. Adopting a nebbish persona reminiscent of Woody Allen, he populated television comedies including The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Don Rickles Show, A Family for Joe, the Barney Miller spin-off Fish, and Archie Bunker's Place. Throughout the 1990s he supplied voices for animated series and commercials, most notably voicing the scholarly, blue-bandanna-clad Donatello on the phenomenally successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, originally syndicated and later broadcast for multiple seasons on CBS's Saturday-morning lineup. He also served as president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Additional singles issued on MGM include "Girl I Left Behind," "Rock Little Chillun" backed with "Pretty Lil Girl Next Door," "Santa Claus Looks Just Like Daddy" backed with "3," and "Yes We Have No Bananas" backed with "Thief." Dunhill released "Ramshackle Guy" backed with "Days of Pearly Spencer" and "Take Off the Veil" backed with "You Can't Love a Child." United Artists issued "Talk, Talk, Talk" backed with "Sealed With a Kiss," while Era offered "They" backed with "Katy," Cadence released "You Can't Lie to a Liar" backed with "You Can't See the Trees," and another single appeared titled "Zoomah Santa From Mars." His long-form releases comprise the MGM album Rock Little Children and the Telarc CD Distant Songs.
"Nuttin' for Christmas" appears on the 1989 Rhino compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits: 1955-Present and on Collectables Records' Oldies Radio K-Earth 101 FM: Vol. 2-Ultimate Christmas Album.
Albums
