Carl Gordon

Black American character player who first gained national prominence as Andrew Emerson, the irascible, self-styled black Nationalist father of Charles S. Dutton, on the Fox sitcom "Roc" (1991-94). Gordon has appeared on stage in more than 30 productions of the Negro Ensemble Company, including "Zooman and the Sign" and "The River Niger," as well as "Ain't Suposed to Die a Natural Death," "Do Lord Remember Me," and the August Wilson dramas, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and "The Piano Lesson." (He was one of three "Roc" regulars--alongside Charles S. Dutton and Rocky Carroll--who came from "The Piano Lesson.") Gordon's feature credits include Ossie Davis' "Gordon's War" (1973), John Badham's "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings" (1976) and John Sayles' "The Brother From Another Planet" (1984).