Early career Gordon attended
RADA, appearing in
repertory theatres and the
West End stage. She was a
soubrette in
musical theatre roles during the 1940s and 1950s, and made her West End debut at the
London Hippodrome in 1943 as Maggie Watson in
Cole Porter's ''
Let's Face It!; replacing Joyce Barbour in that part. She returned to that theatre later that year as Louise Panache (aka "Panny") in the musical The Lisbon Story from June 1943 to July 1944. In April 1949, she took the role of Meg Brockie in the original London production of Brigadoon'' for 685 performances at
Her Majesty's Theatre. She stayed with the show for a national tour. In 1953, she toured as Mrs Sally Adams in
Call Me Madam after Billie Adams had played the role in the London season at the
Coliseum. She appeared in two British films,
29 Acacia Avenue (1945) and
Lisbon Story (1946) in minor parts. In 1954, Gordon spent a year in
New York City learning American television production at
New York University. Her stage career came to a halt in 1955, when she joined
Associated Television in London, where she presented their first-ever programme,
The Weekend Show. She worked behind the scenes as Head of Lifestyle programmes. Gordon helped
Reg Watson and
Ned Sherrin launch ATV Midlands in 1956. As well as being a producer, Gordon became a presenter for the new
Birmingham-based service. Her first television appearance for ATV in the Midlands,
Tea With Noele Gordon, was the first popular ITV chat show, and while presenting this series, she became the first woman to interview a British
Prime Minister, She then moved on to present a daily live entertainment show,
Lunchbox, an early daytime programme. First in 1969, and over the following decade, she won the
TV Times award for portraying the "most compulsive character" on eight occasions.
Crossroads also turned Noele Gordon into a
gay icon. Gordon was the only member of the
Crossroads cast who had a permanent contract; all other cast members were booked on an
ad hoc basis. Gordon stayed with the programme until she was sacked in 1981, when
ATV was in the process of being re-constituted into a new company,
Central Independent Television. Central was obliged to continue ATV's commitment to
Crossroads; however, Head of Programmes
Charles Denton and Head of Drama Margaret Matheson wanted to end the soap opera in favour of more expensive and lavish drama productions. The decision to dismiss Gordon—the show's most popular cast member—was taken in the hope that viewers would desert the show, giving Central a valid excuse to axe it. The British press had stated that Denton was the one responsible for the sacking of Gordon, though it was later revealed that Jack Barton, producer and head writer of
Crossroads, was responsible for Gordon's sacking. Margaret Matheson had stated that it was not Denton or herself who sacked Gordon. According to Denton, "I simply carried out the request of the
Crossroads producer (Barton) to dismiss her. I took the flak as that was part of my job to protect my staff." Gordon returned to
Crossroads in August 1983 for two episodes. In 1985, Matheson's successor
Ted Childs ordered
Crossroads to be revamped; one element in the updating of the show was its renaming as
Crossroads Motel. The programme's new look was designed to bring back Gordon on an "as and when" basis, starting with a three-month stint from April 1985. Gordon's return as Meg was devised by the new producer, Phillip Bowman, who himself ended the involvement with the series of regulars
Ronald Allen and
Sue Lloyd. Gordon, who had already appeared in 3,521 episodes, was too ill to make the planned return.
Later career After the termination of her
Crossroads contract, Gordon starred in the musical
Gypsy at
Leicester's
Haymarket Theatre, followed by a revival of
Irving Berlin's musical
Call Me Madam, touring the Midlands. It then moved to the
Victoria Palace Theatre in the
West End, where it ran for only 88 performances. Her last stage role was in
No, No, Nanette at
Plymouth's
Theatre Royal. She became ill during the run and had to be replaced. In an interview she gave to
TV Times in 1981, Gordon announced that she might, once her stage work had come to an end, take up the offer of returning to presenting. In the same interview, she commented that a future role as a breakfast television presenter was being negotiated. She would, however, not return to television full-time because of her theatre commitments. ==Personal life, illness and death==