Phyllis Gordon

Phyllis Gordon (October 17, 1889 – October 16, 1964) was an American actress born in Suffolk, Virginia, whose career spanned Broadway, vaudeville, and film. She died in Sonoma, California, one day before her seventy-fifth birthday.

Gordon's early life was marked by unusual circumstances. From age five to thirteen she lived in a convent, after which financial necessity drove her to seek work. At thirteen she herded cattle in Oklahoma, and in a 1911 interview she described riding the range alongside cowboys, currying horses, and performing manual labor. She later earned a bachelor's degree in music from Lafayette College and worked in vaudeville as both a comedian and a singer.

Her Broadway career ran from 1907 to 1910. A significant moment came in 1908 when she was performing as a chorus girl in the musical A Knight for a Day. Serving as understudy to Sallie Fisher, Gordon took the stage when Fisher missed a performance. The New York Times the following day reported that her performance was sufficiently impressive that she was to be engaged for an important role in a new summer production at one of Mr. Whitney's theatres in Chicago. She also appeared in the revue Up and Down Broadway in 1910. That same year, a review of a production of Dick Whittington noted that Gordon possessed the best singing voice in the cast, though Louise Dresser held the featured role.

Gordon went on to appear in approximately fifty films across the silent and sound eras between 1911 and 1941. Her screen credits include Calamity Anne's Beauty (1913), In the Secret Service (1913), The Werewolf (1913), and Another Thin Man (1939).

Away from the stage and screen, Gordon attracted public attention on more than one occasion for her choice of animal companions. She was photographed walking a pet cheetah on a London shopping street, and diners at a restaurant in Davenport, Iowa, were startled to discover she was carrying a marmoset in her handbag.