Billi Gordon
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Billi Gordon was born Wilbert Anthony Gordon Jr.[1] 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.
Biography
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. Then he began writing and performing as a woman.[2] 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.
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.[2]
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 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.[2] 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.[3]
References
- ^ "Billi Gordon, 500 pounds lighter, writing autobiography". The Dowagiac Daily News. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
- ^ a b c Hall, Carla (14 October 2009). "A Body Larger than Life". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ Hall, Carla (9 February 2010). "Billi Gordon couldn't fit into an MRI machine -- until now". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 December 2011.
4. The Secret of Her Excess by Lynda Seaver the Oakland Tribune (8-13-87)
External links
- Billi Gordon at IMDb