Gordon Dooley

Gordon Dooley (born James Gordon Dooley, 13 August 1898 - 23 January 1930) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, and acrobat. A member of the Dooley family of performers, he grew up as a child performer in vaudeville in the early part of the 20th century. When the Dooley family act broke up in 1917, he ventured out as a solo performer and became a successful musical theatre actor, dancer, and singer active on Broadway from 1919 through 1928. He also performed in three silent films. Life and career Born into the well known Dooley family of entertainers, James Gordon Dooley, known as Gordon, was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania on August 13, 1898. He was the son of Robert Roger Dooley (originally Dool), and his wife, Mary, both emigrants from Scotland. In 1919 he returned to Broadway as Wilbur in Sigmund Romberg, Jean Schwartz, and Harold Atteridge's musical Monte Cristo Jr. in which he scored a hit with critics and the public in the "Apache Dance" which he performed with his brother William. He was also featured in that musical singing the song "Are You Stepping Out Tonight?" He subsequently appeared in the Broadway musical revues The Greenwich Village Follies (1921), George White's Scandals (1925), Honeymoon Lane (1926), and The Earl Carroll Vanities (1928). In George White's Scandals he gave a hilarious impersonation of George Gershwin,, and his funny pratfalling stunts in Honeymoon Lane were well received by audiences.

On screen, Dooley played the doll in the charade scene of the 1922 feature-length silent film Beauty's Worth; a Paramount Pictures movie directed by Robert G. Vignola and starring Marion Davies. He also appeared in two short films: A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair (1917) and Palm Missed (1921).

Gordon Dooley suffered a nervous breakdown in May 1929.