Jack Gordon (entertainment manager): Difference between revisions

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==Life and career==
==Life and career==
===Early life and criminal allegations===
===Early life and criminal allegations===
Jack Leon Gordon was born in Springfield, Illinois, to Abraham Gordon, a Jewish Russian immigrant, and Faye Stein, an Illinois native of Jewish heritage. While some sources cite Gordon's birthplace as Springfield, Illinois, he claimed Las Vegas as his birthplace in 1983 when he changed his name in 1981 to Samuel Isaac Gordon. However, in 1983, when he again changed his name, this time to Clifford William Johnson, he said he was born in Springfield.<ref name="chicagotribune.com">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-08-11/features/9103270910_1_jackson-family-la-toya-jackson-katherine-jackson |title=Brawl In The Family: La Toya Jackson's Book Heats Up The Tug Of War Between Her Family And Her Manager |publisher=Tribune Corporation |date= 1991-08-11 |accessdate=2015-04-29 |first=Cheryl |last=Lavin}}</ref> In the 1970s, Gordon ran arcades at [[Circus Circus Las Vegas|Circus Circus]] in Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-07-Fri-2006/news/8367589.html |title=News - JOHN L. SMITH: Here's to Willie Cohen, a colorful character of Las Vegas Past, dead at 98 |publisher=reviewjournal.com |date=2006-07-07 |accessdate=2010-06-24}}</ref> He later bought controlling interest in a [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] [[massage parlor]] called Circus Maximus in [[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]]. Gordon subsequently bought two additional massage parlors, one in [[Signal Hill, California|Signal Hill]] and the other in [[Costa Mesa, California|Costa Mesa]], [[California]].<ref name="zimbio.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.zimbio.com/Senator+Harry+Reid+of+Nevada/articles/29/Harry+Reid+up+election+next+yearWill+make |title=Harry Reid is up for re-election next yearWill he make it? - Senator Harry Reid of Nevada |publisher=Zimbio |accessdate=2010-06-24}}</ref> In 1984 a conviction for pandering in Los Angeles resulted in three months probation.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/>
Jack Leon Gordon was born in Springfield, Illinois, to Abraham Gordon, a Jewish Russian immigrant, and Faye Stein, an Illinois native of Jewish heritage. While some sources cite Gordon's birthplace as Springfield, Illinois, he claimed Las Vegas as his birthplace in 1983 when he changed his name in 1981 to Samuel Isaac Gordon. However, in 1983, when he again changed his name, this time to Clifford William Johnson, he said he was born in Springfield.<ref name="chicagotribune.com">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-08-11/features/9103270910_1_jackson-family-la-toya-jackson-katherine-jackson |title=Brawl In The Family: La Toya Jackson's Book Heats Up The Tug Of War Between Her Family And Her Manager |publisher=Tribune Corporation |date= 1991-08-11 |accessdate=2015-04-29 |first=Cheryl |last=Lavin}}</ref> In the 1970s, Gordon ran arcades at [[Circus Circus Las Vegas|Circus Circus]] in Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-07-Fri-2006/news/8367589.html |title=News - JOHN L. SMITH: Here's to Willie Cohen, a colorful character of Las Vegas Past, dead at 98 |publisher=reviewjournal.com |date=2006-07-07 |accessdate=2010-06-24}}</ref> He later bought controlling interest in a [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] [[massage parlor]] called Circus Maximus in [[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]]. Gordon subsequently bought two additional massage parlors, one in [[Signal Hill, California|Signal Hill]] and the other in [[Costa Mesa, California|Costa Mesa]], [[California]].<ref name="zimbio.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.zimbio.com/Senator+Harry+Reid+of+Nevada/articles/29/Harry+Reid+up+election+next+yearWill+make |title=Harry Reid is up for re-election next yearWill he make it? - Senator Harry Reid of Nevada |publisher=Zimbio |accessdate=2010-06-24 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331070129/http://www.zimbio.com/Senator+Harry+Reid+of+Nevada/articles/29/Harry+Reid+up+election+next+yearWill+make |archivedate=2009-03-31 |df= }}</ref> In 1984 a conviction for pandering in Los Angeles resulted in three months probation.<ref name="chicagotribune.com"/>


===Bribe offer to Gaming Commission chairman Harry Reid===
===Bribe offer to Gaming Commission chairman Harry Reid===

Revision as of 17:16, 13 January 2018

For other people named Jack Gordon, see Jack Gordon (disambiguation).
Jack Gordon
Las Vegas, Nevada
NationalityAmerican
Other namesSamuel Isaac Gordon
(1981–83)
Clifford William Johnson (1983)
Occupations
  • Entertainment manager
  • businessman
Years active1970–2005
Spouse(s)
Ethel L. Moxley
​
​
(m. 1961; div. 1972)​

​
​
(m. 1989; div. 1997)​
Children2

Jack Leon Gordon (November 10, 1939 – April 19, 2005), also known as Samuel Isaac Gordon and Clifford William Johnson, was an American businessman and entertainment manager. Gordon was most known as the former manager and later husband of American singer–songwriter La Toya Jackson. In addition to being Jackson's manager, Gordon later served as the manager of American tabloid subject later turned porn actor John Wayne Bobbitt. Gordon died of cancer on April 19, 2005 at age 65.

Life and career

Early life and criminal allegations

Jack Leon Gordon was born in Springfield, Illinois, to Abraham Gordon, a Jewish Russian immigrant, and Faye Stein, an Illinois native of Jewish heritage. While some sources cite Gordon's birthplace as Springfield, Illinois, he claimed Las Vegas as his birthplace in 1983 when he changed his name in 1981 to Samuel Isaac Gordon. However, in 1983, when he again changed his name, this time to Clifford William Johnson, he said he was born in Springfield.

Los Angeles massage parlor called Circus Maximus in West Hollywood. Gordon subsequently bought two additional massage parlors, one in Signal Hill and the other in Costa Mesa, California.[3] In 1984 a conviction for pandering in Los Angeles resulted in three months probation.[1]

Bribe offer to Gaming Commission chairman Harry Reid

In 1978, Jack Gordon offered $12,000 to then-chairman of the

FBI and allowed agents to videotape a meeting with Gordon in his office. At the point where Reid asked, “Is this the money?” FBI agents burst in to arrest Gordon. Reid, a former boxer, exclaimed “You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me!” and attempted to strangle Gordon, before startled agents pulled him off.[4] Gordon was convicted in federal court in 1979 and sentenced to six months in prison.[3] In 1981, Reid's wife found a bomb attached to one of their cars, a bomb Reid suspects was placed by Gordon.[5]

Management and marriage to La Toya Jackson

In the mid-1980s, Gordon began to manage

La Toya: Growing up in the Jackson Family, which accused her father of child abuse.[11]

Gordon sometimes hired bodyguards to watch La Toya and she claims that he would never allow her to speak to or see her family. La Toya's father Joseph stated in his book The Jacksons that he believed Gordon

brainwashed her and made her fearful of her own family.[12] Jackson's mother Katherine also agreed that La Toya had been brainwashed while Gordon claimed that Katherine had tried to kill La Toya.[13] Sister Janet concurred with her parents saying at the time, "I think this guy who is with her has brainwashed her and made her like this... He keeps her away from the family, and now he's brainwashed her so much she keeps herself away from us." [14] In 1993, in their New York home, Gordon allegedly beat La Toya repeatedly with a heavy brass dining room chair, leaving Jackson with contusions on her face, arms, legs and back in addition to a black eye, lip and chin swollen to "the size of a clenched fist," requiring 12 stitches in her mouth. Jackson told reporters, "he kicked me in the mouth (and) the boot went right up under my lip . . . all the way through the skin and burst my lip." Jackson supposedly lost consciousness during the beating, leading Gordon to believe she was dead. She recalled, "He called his friends and said, 'She's dead. I killed her,' because I was lying in a puddle of blood and I was out."[15] Gordon was arrested but then released, claiming self-defense after La Toya "came at" him with a knife. He then declared to the press that he was undergoing radiation treatments for cancer.[16][17][18]

In December 1993, Gordon hastily arranged a press conference in

Randy, who flew to New York City to help her escape while Gordon was out.[22][23] Days later, La Toya filed for divorce.[24]

Accusations about the Jackson family

While La Toya was in seclusion for four years, Gordon continued to make accusations about the Jackson family; he claimed that La Toya's younger brother Michael had performed monkey sacrifice rituals, abused Bubbles the chimpanzee, and even accused him of forcing Lisa Marie Presley to marry him. In 2002, Gordon did interviews advertising his tell-all book of the Jackson family entitled The Jackson Family: The True Story Of The Most Powerful Family In The Music Industry. The entire family — including his former wife — stated that his allegations were "pure fantasy." [25]

Mafia associations

wiretaps in 1994, linked Gordon to Genovese crime family member James "Little Jimmy" Ida. Gordon was taped arranging for mobsters to shadow Jackson on a trip to Russia. Gordon paid the group $1,500 a month for at least two years to protect Jackson from "shakedowns" by rival mobsters. Gordon also employed the services of organized crime defense attorney and former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman.[26][27]

Other entertainment clients

Jack Gordon had few other entertainment clients apart from La Toya Jackson. Before Gordon became La Toya's co-manager with her father in the late 1980s (and eventually manager) it was widely known he had a disreputable past including trouble with the law. Joseph Jackson was always fearful of Gordon as he believed Gordon was probably armed.[12] Gordon's clients included John Wayne Bobbitt, Divine Brown, Gloria Gaynor, Shannen Doherty, and Sharon Stone.[28][29] In 1999, Gordon claimed that Paula Jones, a pivotal figure in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, had confided in him that Clinton had not sexually harassed her as she originally claimed. Gordon arranged Jones' nude spread in Penthouse, and claimed he helped her launch a psychic hotline. However, in a March, 1999 CNN Politics website article, Susan Carpenter McMillan, a confidante and former adviser to Jones, issued a statement from Jones that she had not, nor would she ever do anything with a psychic hotline.;[30] McMillan also has stated that Gordon was "obsessed" with the former Arkansas state employee, phoning her up to 15 times a day.[31]

Death

Gordon died on April 19, 2005 at Mayo Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona after battling cancer for several months; He was 65.[32] He was survived by his brother Terry Gordon, his daughter Francesca Malkin, and his son Aaron Gordon.[33]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Lavin, Cheryl (1991-08-11). "Brawl In The Family: La Toya Jackson's Book Heats Up The Tug Of War Between Her Family And Her Manager". Tribune Corporation. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
  2. ^ "News - JOHN L. SMITH: Here's to Willie Cohen, a colorful character of Las Vegas Past, dead at 98". reviewjournal.com. 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  3. ^ a b "Harry Reid is up for re-election next yearWill he make it? - Senator Harry Reid of Nevada". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2010-06-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Walsh, Elsa (2009-01-07). "Annals of Politics: Minority Retort". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  5. ^ Walsh, Elsa (August 8, 2005). "Minority Retort: How a pro-gun, anti-abortion Nevadan leads the Senate's Democrats". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  6. ^ a b Randolph, Laura B. (1992). "LaToya Jackson on: fame, family and her future in Paris - Interview - Cover Story - page 2 | Ebony". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  7. ^ a b Lloyd, Jimmy (2009-01-06). "La Toya's forced wedding hell | The Sun |Showbiz|Big Brother". London: The Sun. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  8. ^ "Wedding Bells Were A Hoax, La Toya Says | Deseret News". Archive.deseretnews.com. 1989-09-08. Retrieved 2010-06-24.[dead link]
  9. ^ Lloyd, Jimmy (2009-01-04). "La Toya Jackson tells on Celebrity Big Brother how she was violently abused by her ex-husband | Domestic abuse | The Sun |Showbiz|Big Brother". London: The Sun. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  10. ^ "LA Times: 'LaToya Jackson Beaten in Rome', June 15, 1990". Articles.latimes.com. 1990-06-15. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  11. ISBN 0-451-17415-1
    .
  12. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-18. Retrieved 2006-11-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Lavin, Cheryl (1991-08-11). "Archives: Chicago Tribune". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  14. ^ Norment, Lynn (1993). "Grown-up Janet Jackson talks about racism, sensuality and the Jackson family - Cover Story | Ebony | Find Articles at BNET". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  15. ^ a b 'La Toya Jacksons Ex Threatened To Kill Michael and Janet', femalefirst.co.uk, 25-01-2005
  16. ^ "Danger Zone". People.com. 1993-05-03. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  17. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-01-17. Retrieved 2016-02-07. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ^ "The Whole Scoop and Nothing but the Scoop". Newsbank. 1993-04-24.
  19. ^ "La Toya: Charges Are True; Family Says Jackson Never Molested Kids". The Washington Post. Highbeam.com. 1993-12-09. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  20. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 534-540
  21. ^ Morrison, Jane Ann: "Gordon's family leaves the skeletons in his closet and out of his obit.", Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 28, 2005.
  22. ^ “”. "La Toya on escaping Jack Gordon". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "LaToya Jackson Defends Michael". 1. January 20, 2005. ABC News. LaToya Jackson Defends Michael. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |episodelink=, |city=, and |serieslink= (help); External link in |transcripturl= (help); Unknown parameter |transcripturl= ignored (|transcript-url= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-28. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "Jacko Is Very Wacko If Jack Gordon Is To Be Believed". popdirt.com. 2002-10-09. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  26. ^ "Archive". The Smoking Gun. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  27. ^ Capeci, Jerry (1996-08-01). "La Toya Hubby Pay-Offs Cited". New York: Nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-30. Retrieved 2010-06-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Gordon vs. Gordon, Page 01875 Family Division Book 19990201, Page 5, Paragraph 7 (District Court of Clark County, Nevada March 3, 1998).
  29. ^ http://bkc.mikovice.com/rr/huckster_1_text.pdf
  30. ^ "Paula Jonees She and her husband living apart but claims marriage not in jeopard". New York: CNN Politics. 1999-03-17. Archived from the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2013-02-05. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ Rush, George (1999-06-03). "Paula Lied About Bill: Promoter". New York: Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2010-06-24.[permanent dead link]
  32. ^ "News: JANE ANN MORRISON: Gordon's family leaves the ske". reviewjournal.com. 2005-04-28. Archived from the original on May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2005/apr/20/gordon-latoyas-ex-husband-bobbitts-manager-dies-at/ Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | 8:53 a.m.
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