Full Name Bert Ira Gordon Name Bert Gordon Website www.bertigordon.com | Occupation Film director Other names Mister B.I.G. Role Film director | |
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Education University of Wisconsin-Madison Spouse Eva Marie Marklstorfer (m. 1980), Flora M. Gordon (m. 1945–1979) Parents Sadeline Barnett, Charles Abraham Gordon Movies The Amazing Colossal, The Food of the Gods, Empire of the Ants, Earth vs the Spider, Village of the Giants Similar People Susan Gordon, Samuel Z Arkoff, June Kenney, Albert Glasser, James H Nicholson | ||
Interview with director bert i gordon aka mr big
Bert I. Gordon (born September 24, 1922) is an American film director most famous for such science fiction and horror B-movies as The Amazing Colossal Man and Village of the Giants. Most of Gordon's work is in the idiom of giant monster films, for which he used rear-projection to create the special effects. His nickname "Mister B.I.G." is a reference both to his initials and to his preferred technique for making super-sized creatures.
Contents
- Interview with director bert i gordon aka mr big
- Bert I Gordon Films
- Career
- Personal life
- Filmography
- References
Bert I. Gordon Films
Career
Gordon began making home movies in 16mm after his aunt gave him a camera for his 13th birthday. He dropped out of college to join the Air Corps in World War II. After the war, he married and he and his wife began making television commercials. He later edited British feature films to fit half-hour time slots and became a production assistant on Racket Squad and camera man on Serpent Island (1954).
In 1955, Gordon made his first feature, King Dinosaur, followed by The Cyclops in 1957, which co-starred Lon Chaney Jr. In 1957, he began his prolific association with American International Pictures, beginning with The Amazing Colossal Man and its 1958 sequel, War of the Colossal Beast. AIP also distributed some of his other late-50s opuses, such as Earth vs the Spider, Beginning of the End, and Attack of the Puppet People.
After filming Tormented (1960), he wrote, produced and directed The Boy and the Pirates, starring active and popular child star of the time Charles Herbert and Gordon's own daughter, Susan Gordon (who died in 2011 from thyroid cancer). All three appeared together in the celebrity lineup at the 2006 Monster Bash, held June 23–25 at the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Airport Four Points. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a Midnite Movies double DVD set with the rarely seen The Boy and the Pirates, and the more recent Crystalstone (1987), on June 27, 2006.
Gordon holds a degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Gordon has regularly appeared in the celebrity lineup of the annual Monster Bash convention held in the Pittsburgh region. In 2012, he hosted and moderated a screening of The Amazing Colossal Man in Dallas, Texas
Personal life
Gordon was married for more than 30 years to Flora Gordon, who went by the name Flora Lang in the latter part of her professional career; the two divorced in 1979. They had children Susan Gordon, who predeceased them, Carol Gordon, and Patricia Gordon.
Filmography
As director-producer. Source for credits, years and primary titles:
Of these titles, King Dinosaur, The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth Vs. The Spider, War of the Colossal Beast, The Magic Sword, Tormented, Beginning of the End and Village of the Giants were featured on the film-spoofing series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Later, Attack of the Puppet People was featured on the sister series to Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, as well as a redux of The Magic Sword.