Our Legendary Line of Long-Legged Lovelies
Jill Gordon
"Going to the beach is still my favorite summertime fun. I fondly recall the smell of suntan lotion at the beach, family barbecues and swimming when I was a kid."
The Deputy Company Dance Manager of the Follies is Jill Gordon, who, at 68, is in her 15th year with the show. She started on stage in the Moro Landis chorus line, touring Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Jill gravitated to television and danced on the Andy Williams and Dean Martin shows, then spent a full season on The Carol Burnett Show. In 1976, she began a 12-year professional relationship with Mac Davis, traveling the world, dancing and singing. She also appeared in his numerous television specials.
From 1988 to 1991, she produced her own '50s revue entitled Bop. During this time she began touring with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello in a nostalgic show reminiscent of the Beach Party movies. She continued working with Avalon until 1996.
MORE FUN FACTS
- Jill grew up in Los Angeles and went to high school in Burbank. "I survived Catholic school, but just barely!"
- Her most memorable career moment was performing on the Fourth of July with Frankie Avalon in a park in Ohio with 30,000 people assembled there for the show.
- The biggest challenge she has encountered: "Shoving a size 8 body into a size 4 costume."
- With the Follies, she discovered the secret to staying thin: "Riff Markowitz (the taskmaster)."
- After a Follies performance, her feet and body ache "only when I'm awake."
- Raising her daughter, Amy, was Jill's greatest experience in life. Amy works in the unusual occupation of midwife.
- The best part of being in the Follies, she says, ". . . is being part of a joyous, classy show that is well respected and has a positive effect on the people out front."
- The only aspect of her life that this Long-Legged Lovely rues is that she's not sure about the "Long." She admits, "I would like to have been taller."
