William Douglas Gordon (January 4, 1918 – August 12, 1991) was an American actor, writer, director, story editor, and producer. Although he is best known for his writing credits, he acted occasionally on numerous TV series.

Gordon was born in Santa Clara, California, in 1918. He started his career as a writer in 1936, writing for radio shows likeThe Cisco Kid,The Count of Monte Cristo andThe Tommy Dorsey Show.^[1] In 1939, he began to direct TV shows, directing the first live television shows for theDon Lee Network and later he served as an infantry officer duringWorld War II.^[2] In 1958, he acted for the first time inMaverick,^[3] appearing subsequently in TV series includingMaverick,The Twilight Zone,Thriller,Peter Gunn,Law of the Plainsman,Riverboat,Rawhide,The Americans andThe Virginian during the 1960s.^[3] He also worked as a script writer for shows likeAlfred Hitchcock Presents,The Fugitive,Bonanza,Ironside andBarbary Coast, in addition to writing the screenplay of the filmsCotter^[4] andSergeant Ryker.^[5]

As a director, he directed one episode ofThe Richard Boone Show titled "Death Before Dishonor" and another ofThe Fugitive titled "A.P.B.".^[6][7] On March 31, 1965, he became the producer ofTwelve O'Clock High, producing 47 episodes of the series, in addition to producing 32 episodes ofThe Fugitive between 1964 and 1966.^[2] He worked as a story supervisor ofThe Richard Boone Show,Bonanza,Thriller andAlfred Hitchcock Presents and directed the televisiongame showQueen for a Day. From 1977 to 1982, Gordon, along with James Doherty, helped to produce, write and edit the TV seriesCHiPs.^[1] After retirement, Gordon began writing novels about theCivil War.^[1]

Gordon died in Thousand Oaks, California oflung cancer aged 73.^[8]

• Cimarron City - The Blood Line (1958) TV Episode .... Roy Rankin
• Maverick - Escape to Tampico (1958) TV Episode .... Sam Garth - Prey of the Cat (1958) TV Episode .... Fred Bender - Two Tickets to Ten Strike (1959) TV Episode .... Eddie Burke
• Peter Gunn - The Portrait (1959) TV Episode .... Maddox
• Law of the Plainsman - Prairie Incident (1959) TV Episode .... Deke - A Matter of Life and Death (1959) TV Episode .... Henchman
• Riverboat - Payment in Full (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Barrier (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - About Roger Mowbray (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - A Race to Cincinnati (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Unwilling (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Fight Back (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - Escape to Memphis (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - Witness No Evil (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - A Night at Trapper's Landing (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Faithless (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Boy from Pittsburgh (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - Strange Request (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - Guns for Empire (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis - The Face of Courage (1959) TV Episode .... Joe Travis
• Black Saddle - A Case of Slow (1960) TV Episode .... Dr. Tom Wall
• Rawhide - Incident of the Last Chance (1960) TV Episode .... Sid Gorman
• The Twilight Zone -Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room .... George -Eye of the Beholder .... Doctor
• The Americans - Harper's Ferry (1961) TV Episode .... Lt. Barnes - The Regular (1961) TV Episode .... Lt. Barnes
• Thriller - The Premature Burial (1961) TV Episode .... Doctor March
• Laramie - The Star Trail (1959) TV Episode .... Vic Stoddard - A Grave for Cully Brown (1962) TV Episode .... Giles
• The Virginian - West (1962) TV Episode .... Blench
• Bearcats! - Powderkeg (1971) TV Episode .... Fallon, Hotel Goon
• The Bold Ones: The Lawyers - The Strange Secret of Yermo Hill (1971) TV Episode .... Dr. Sinclair
• Alias Smith and Jones - What happened at the XST? (1972) TV Episode .... Reverend Siever
• Captains and the Kings - Chapter III (1976) TV Episode .... Doctor Gill
• Hunter - Blow-Up (1986) TV Episode .... Minister

• Startime (1960) TV Series (writer - 1 episode)
• The Americans (1961) TV Series (writer - 2 episodes) (teleplay - 1 episode)
• Thriller (1961-1962) TV Series (adaptation - 2 episodes)
• Outlaws (1961-1962) TV Series (writer - 3 episodes)
• Rodeo (1963) TV Series (writer - 1 episode)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1962-1964) TV Series (teleplay - 6 episodes)
• Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963-1964) TV Series (writer - 1 episode) (teleplay - 4 episodes)
• The Richard Boone Show (1963-1964) TV Series (teleplay - 4 episodes) (writer - 1 episode) (written by - 1 episode)
• Breaking Point (1964) TV Series (written by - 1 episode)
• The Fugitive (1963-1965) TV Series (written by- 3 episodes) (teleplay - 2 episodes)
• 12 O'Clock High (1965-1966) TV Series (writer - 3 episodes)
• Sergeant Ryker (1968) (screenplay)
• The Name of the Game (1969-1970) TV Series (written by - 2 episodes)
• The Bold Ones: The Lawyers (1970-1971) TV Series (teleplay - 2 episodes)
• Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1972) TV Series (writer - 1 episode) (teleplay - 1 episode)
• Bonanza (1972) TV Series (writer - 1 episode)
• Cotter (1973) (writer)
• Petrocelli (1974) TV Series (written by - 1 episode)
• The Six Million Dollar Man (1975) TV Series (story - 1 episode)
• Ironside (1973-1975) TV Series (teleplay - 5 episodes) (written by - 5 episodes) (story - 3 episodes)
• Barbary Coast (1975-1976) TV Series (writer - 1 episode) (written by - 1 episode)
• Chips (1978-1981) TV Series (writer - 4 episodes) (teleplay - 2 episodes) (teleplay & story - 1 episode) (story - 1 episode)

• Twelve O'Clock High (1965–1967) TV Series (producer – 47 episodes)
• The Fugitive (1964–1966) TV Series (associate producer – 32 episodes)

• The Richard Boone Show (1963-1964) TV Series (story supervisor – 17 episodes)
• Bonanza (1972) TV Series (executive story consultant – 3 episodes)
• Barbary Coast (1975–1976) TV Series (story editor – 11 episodes)
• CHiPs (1978-1982) TV Series (story editor – 77 episodes) (story supervisor – 2 episodes)

• William D. Gordon atIMDb

• 1918 births
• 1991 deaths
• Deaths from lung cancer in California
• 20th-century American male actors
• American male television actors
• Male actors from Santa Clara, California
• American television producers
• American television directors
• American television writers
• American radio writers
• American male television writers
• 20th-century American screenwriters
• 20th-century American male writers

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