Barbara Gordon

Barbara Sue Gordon (née Loeb; December 19, 1935 – April 7, 2026) was an American documentary filmmaker and author. She worked on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series The Great American Dream Machine, where she filmed segments on Studs Terkel, Dalton Trumbo, and Jane Fonda. After graduating from Barnard College, she worked for almost 20 years in television as a writer and producer. In 1979, Gordon published her memoir I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can, which follows her addiction to Valium and battle toward recovery. A film adaptation, directed by Jack Hofsiss and starring Jill Clayburgh as Gordon, was released in 1982.

Career After graduating from Barnard College in 1956, Gordon got a job as a secretary in the public relations department at NBC. She worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming a researcher, then a production assistant.

Gordon worked on The Today Show until the late 1960s when she left and went to work for National Educational Television, where she co-produced documentaries.

Publications I’m dancing as fast as I can - Memoir (1979) Defects of the Heart. Novel (1983) Jennifer Fever. Nonfiction. Harper Collins (1988)