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{{short description|American actor and neuroscientist}}
{{notability|Biographies|date=December 2011}}
{{Infobox person
⚫
'''Billi Gordon''' was born '''Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.'''<ref name="DDN">{{cite news|url=http://www.dowagiacnews.com/2006/05/10/billi-gordon-500-pounds-lighter-writing-autobiography/|title=Billi Gordon, 500 pounds lighter, writing autobiography|date=10 May 2006|work=The Dowagiac Daily News|accessdate=25 December 2011}}</ref> on September 2, 1954 in [[Dowagiac, Michigan]]. He is an author, neuroscientist and former actor and writer, stand-up comic and prostitute. He was profiled in 2009 by ''The Los Angeles Times'' regarding his dramatic weight fluctuations.
| name = <!-- use common name/article title -->
| image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption =
| birth_name = Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1954|09|02}}
| birth_place = [[Dowagiac, Michigan]], US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|02|22|1954|09|02}}
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], US
| other_names =
| occupation = Actor, model, neuroscientist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Robert Lindsay Schallert
}}
⚫
'''Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.'''<ref name="DDN">{{cite news|url=http://www.dowagiacnews.com/2006/05/10/billi-gordon-500-pounds-lighter-writing-autobiography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504103924/http://www.dowagiacnews.com/2006/05/10/billi-gordon-500-pounds-lighter-writing-autobiography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 May 2012|author=Staff|title=Billi Gordon, 500 pounds lighter, writing autobiography|date=10 May 2006|work=The Dowagiac Daily News|access-date=25 December 2011}}</ref> (September 2, 1954 – February 22, 2018), better known as '''Billi Gordon''', was an American author, television writer, [[neuroscientist]], actor and model.<ref name="ReferenceA">Seaver, Linda. ''The Secret of Her Excess'' ''[[Oakland Tribune]]'' (8-13-87)</ref>


==Biography==
==Life and career==
Gordon was born in 1954 in [[Dowagiac, Michigan]]. He graduated from Dowagiac Union High School. After high school, in 1972, Gordon entered the Roman Catholic Crosier Seminary in [[Onamia, Minnesota]], but left during his freshman year to attend the [[University of Michigan at Ann Arbor]]. In his junior year, he withdrew from the university and moved to Los Angeles.
According to Gordon, he worked in Los Angeles as an escort, a male prostitute and then a female prostitute until sometime in the 1980s when he became the most successful greeting card model in the world.<ref>4</ref> Then he began writing and performing as a woman.<ref name="LAT">{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/14/local/me-gordon14|title=A Body Larger than Life|last=Hall|first=Carla|date=14 October 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=24 December 2011}}</ref> Gordon is the author of three works of non-fiction: ''Billi Gordon's You've Had Worse Things in Your Mouth Cookbook'', ''Eat This Book: The Last Diet Book'', and ''Your Moon Is in Aquarius but Your Head Is in Uranus'', published by West Graphics, and the co-author of the novel ''Oil and Gasoline'' from Alyson Books.


In L.A. he worked as an escort for an exclusive agency until 1982<ref name="LAT">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-gordon14-2009oct14-story.html |title=A Body Larger than Life|last=Hall|first=Carla|date=14 October 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=24 December 2011}}</ref> when he became an [[alternative model]] and appeared on more greeting cards than any other model in the world,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> At the height of his career, he was paid $12,000 an hour; after which he began writing and performing as a woman.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="LAT"/> Gordon is the author of three works of non-fiction: ''Billi Gordon's You've Had Worse Things in Your Mouth Cookbook'',<ref>{{ISBN|0961497904}} / 0-9614979-0-4</ref> which the ''[[Saturday Review (US magazine)|Saturday Review]]'' described as "the humor classic of 1985";<ref>Heymont, George. "Briefings" ''[[Saturday Review (US magazine)|Saturday Review]]'' (November/December 1985)</ref> ''Eat This Book: The Last Diet Book'', and ''Your Moon Is in Aquarius but Your Head Is in Uranus'', published by West Graphics.
He was a television and film actor that portrayed male and female characters, including the small role of "Large Woman" in the film ''[[Coming to America]]''. As a writer, he wrote an episode of the sitcom ''[[227 (TV series)|227]]''.<ref name="LAT" />


Gordon was a television and film actor who portrayed male and female characters, including a role in the film ''[[Coming to America]]''. He portrayed Belle on [[List of Married... with Children characters#Guest stars|''Married With Children'']] and Chu Lin on [[Women in Prison (TV series)|''Women in Prison'']]. As a writer, he wrote an episode of the sitcom ''[[227 (TV series)|227]]''.<ref name="LAT" /> Gordon also wrote and starred in the television pilot ''Next of Kin'' for Westway/Odessa.<ref>Styles, Anna. "Film & TV Casting News" ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' (October 31, 1983)</ref>
⚫
In the mid 1990's Billi went back to the [[University of Michigan]] and finished his degree (1997). He went on to receive a Ph.D. in neuroscience and did his post-doctoral training in functional neuroimaging and brain research at The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Currently Dr. Gordon investigates the pathophysiology of stress as antecedent to disease.


⚫
In the mid-1990s Gordon returned to the [[University of Michigan]] and finished his degree in 1997. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in neuroscience and did his post-doctoral training in functional [[neuroimaging]] and brain research at the [[David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA]]. Gordon investigated the [[pathophysiology]] of stress as antecedent to obesity-related diseases at the UCLA ''Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for the Neurobiology of Stress'' for the Ingestive Behaviors and Obesity Program.
⚫
In 2009, Gordon was profiled in ''The Los Angeles Times'', centering around his dramatic weight change and how it related to his career and lifestyle. Over the years, his weight has fluctuated between 300 and close to 1,000 lbs. At the time of the story, he had been admitted to the hospital at a weight of 701 lbs.<ref name="LAT" /> In a follow-up story, it was revealed that he had lost 175 pounds over the next five months. This allowed him to finally be able to fit into an [[MRI]] machine at 526 lbs., allowing doctors to further diagnose a large mass growing on his upper thigh.<ref name="LAT2">{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/billi-gordon-couldnt-fit-into-an-mri-until-now.html|title=Billi Gordon couldn’t fit into an MRI machine -- until now|last=Hall|first=Carla|date=9 February 2010|work=The Los Angeles Times|accessdate=25 December 2011}}</ref>

⚫
In 2009, Gordon was profiled on the front page of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', in a piece which focused on his dramatic weight changes and how it related to his career and lifestyle. Over the years, his weight has fluctuated between 300 and close to 1,000 pounds. At the time of the story, he had been admitted to the hospital at a weight of 701 pounds.<ref name="LAT" /> A follow-up story reported that he had lost 175 pounds over the intervening five months, which allowed him to be able to fit into an [[MRI]] machine at 526 pounds, allowing doctors to further diagnose a large mass growing on his upper thigh.<ref name="LAT2">{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/02/billi-gordon-couldnt-fit-into-an-mri-until-now.html|title=Billi Gordon couldn't fit into an MRI machine -- until now|last=Hall|first=Carla|date=9 February 2010|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=25 December 2011}}</ref>

He married Robert Lindsay Schallert, on August 6, 1988. They resided in Los Angeles, California. Gordon died on February 22, 2018, at the age of 63.<ref>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?n=wilbert-gordon-billi&pid=188412671 Wilbert Gordon Obituary]</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1984|| ''[[The Party Animal]]'' || The New Dean ||
|-
|1988|| ''[[Coming to America]]'' || Large Woman ||
|}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
4. The Secret of Her Excess by Lynda Seaver the Oakland Tribune (8-13-87)


==External links==
==External links==
* {{Official website|http://billygordon.com}}
* {{IMDb name |0330032}}
* {{Facebook|drbillyg}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Billi}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Billi}}
[[Category:American actors]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ male actors]]
[[Category:American male prostitutes]]
[[Category:American prostitutes]]
[[Category:American neuroscientists]]
[[Category:American neuroscientists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA alumni]]
[[Category:Male models from Michigan]]
[[Category:People from Dowagiac, Michigan]]
[[Category:University of Michigan alumni]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]

Latest revision as of 22:15, 24 September 2024

Billi Gordon
Born
Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.

(1954-09-02)September 2, 1954
Dowagiac, Michigan, US
DiedFebruary 22, 2018(2018-02-22) (aged 63)
Los Angeles, California, US
Occupation(s)Actor, model, neuroscientist
SpouseRobert Lindsay Schallert

Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.[1] (September 2, 1954 – February 22, 2018), better known as Billi Gordon, was an American author, television writer, neuroscientist, actor and model.[2]

Life and career

[edit]

Gordon was born in 1954 in Dowagiac, Michigan. He graduated from Dowagiac Union High School. After high school, in 1972, Gordon entered the Roman Catholic Crosier Seminary in Onamia, Minnesota, but left during his freshman year to attend the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In his junior year, he withdrew from the university and moved to Los Angeles.

In L.A. he worked as an escort for an exclusive agency until 1982[3] when he became an alternative model and appeared on more greeting cards than any other model in the world,[2] At the height of his career, he was paid $12,000 an hour; after which he began writing and performing as a woman.[2][3] Gordon is the author of three works of non-fiction: Billi Gordon's You've Had Worse Things in Your Mouth Cookbook,[4] which the Saturday Review described as "the humor classic of 1985";[5] Eat This Book: The Last Diet Book, and Your Moon Is in Aquarius but Your Head Is in Uranus, published by West Graphics.

Gordon was a television and film actor who portrayed male and female characters, including a role in the film Coming to America. He portrayed Belle on Married With Children and Chu Lin on Women in Prison. As a writer, he wrote an episode of the sitcom 227.[3] Gordon also wrote and starred in the television pilot Next of Kin for Westway/Odessa.[6]

In the mid-1990s Gordon returned to the University of Michigan and finished his degree in 1997. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in neuroscience and did his post-doctoral training in functional neuroimaging and brain research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Gordon investigated the pathophysiology of stress as antecedent to obesity-related diseases at the UCLA Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for the Neurobiology of Stress for the Ingestive Behaviors and Obesity Program.

In 2009, Gordon was profiled on the front page of the Los Angeles Times, in a piece which focused on his dramatic weight changes and how it related to his career and lifestyle. Over the years, his weight has fluctuated between 300 and close to 1,000 pounds. At the time of the story, he had been admitted to the hospital at a weight of 701 pounds.[3] A follow-up story reported that he had lost 175 pounds over the intervening five months, which allowed him to be able to fit into an MRI machine at 526 pounds, allowing doctors to further diagnose a large mass growing on his upper thigh.[7]

He married Robert Lindsay Schallert, on August 6, 1988. They resided in Los Angeles, California. Gordon died on February 22, 2018, at the age of 63.[8]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1984 The Party Animal The New Dean
1988 Coming to America Large Woman

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Staff (10 May 2006). "Billi Gordon, 500 pounds lighter, writing autobiography". The Dowagiac Daily News. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Seaver, Linda. The Secret of Her Excess Oakland Tribune (8-13-87)
  3. ^ a b c d Hall, Carla (14 October 2009). "A Body Larger than Life". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  4. ^ ISBN 0961497904 / 0-9614979-0-4
  5. ^ Heymont, George. "Briefings" Saturday Review (November/December 1985)
  6. ^ Styles, Anna. "Film & TV Casting News" Variety (October 31, 1983)
  7. ^ Hall, Carla (9 February 2010). "Billi Gordon couldn't fit into an MRI machine -- until now". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
  8. ^ Wilbert Gordon Obituary
[edit]
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