Birth name James Edward Jordan Children Kathryn; Jim, Jr. Name Jim Jordan | Style Comedy Role Actor | |
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Born November 16, 1896Peoria, Illinois ( 1896-11-16 ) Spouse Gretchen Stewart (m. 1962–1988), Marian Jordan (m. 1918–1961) Movies The Rescuers, Heavenly Days, Here We Go Again, Look Who's Laughing | ||
James Edward Jordan (November 16, 1896 – April 1, 1988) was the American actor who played Fibber McGee in Fibber McGee and Molly and voiced the albatross Orville in Disney's The Rescuers (1977).
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Biography
Jordan was born in 1896 on a farm near Peoria, Illinois. He attended St. John's Church in Peoria, and his family eventually sold the farm and moved into Peoria. It was at church choir practice that he met Marian Driscoll, whom he married on August 31, 1918.
With Marian
Jim Jordan went on the vaudeville circuit, both as a solo act and with his wife, Marian, at various times until 1924. They went entirely broke in 1923, having to be wired money by their parents to get back to Peoria from Lincoln, Illinois.
Jim and Marian Jordan got their major break in radio while performing in Chicago in 1924; Jim said he could give a better performance than the singers they were listening to on the radio, and his brother Byron bet $10 that Jim couldn't do it. By the end of the evening, Jim and Marian had their first radio contract, at $10 per show for 26 weeks as The O'Henry Twins, sponsored by Oh Henry! candy.
After Marian
Marian Jordan died in April 1961. Jim Jordan married Gretchen Stewart (1909-1998), the widow of radio comic Harry Stewart (Yogi Yorgesson) in 1962; they remained married for the rest of his life, and he remained in semi-retirement.
In 1988, he died at the age of 91 in Los Angeles from a blood clot in his brain, caused by a fall at his home. He is buried next to Marian Jordan in the Saint Ann section of Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, and is next to the plot of Sharon Tate.