Gale Gordon

Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television sitcom The Lucy Show. Gordon also appeared in I Love Lucy and had starring roles in Ball's successful third series Here's Lucy and her short-lived fourth and final series Life with Lucy. Gordon was also a radio actor who played school principal Osgood Conklin in Our Miss Brooks, starring Eve Arden, in both the 1948–1957 radio series and the 1952–1956 television series. He also co-starred as the second Mr. Wilson in Dennis the Menace, replacing Joseph Kearns after he died. Career Radio Born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr. in New York City to vaudevillian Charles Thomas Aldrich and his wife, English actress Gloria Gordon, Gale Gordon's first big radio break came via the recurring roles of "Mayor La Trivia" and "Foggy Williams" on Fibber McGee and Molly, before playing Rumson Bullard on the show's successful spinoff, The Great Gildersleeve. Gordon and his character of Mayor La Trivia left the show during World War II when Gordon enlisted in the US Coast Guard, where he spent four years. He was the first actor to play the role of Flash Gordon, in the 1935 radio serial The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon. He also played Dr. Stevens in Glorious One.