Wikipedia tells us that the character actor Henry Racke (1883-1940) owned a silver mine in Mexico before he took to the stage. No source is cited and it is difficult to see where the information could have come from. Gordon certainly did not mention it in an interview he gave to Picture Play Magazine in February 1935.
According to Gordon, he returned as a young man from being educated in Europe to find that his sister was now acting. This led to actor/producer William Elliott casting him in a play. He spent many years performing on the stage until Hollywood opened its arms to actors who could speak in 1929.
His breakthrough screen role came in Mata Hari (1931), as the detective who tracks down Greta Garbo. The following year he played Paul Muni’s nemesis in Scarface (1932).
Gordon was more likely to be cast as a villain than a hero, a notable example being his brownface Surat Khan in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936).
Gordon’s only appearance in an MGM musical was as Ricco, the unscrupulous political agent in Stage Mother.
He died suddenly as the result of complications following the emergency amputation of his leg.
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