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• Jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was both a well-known jazz musician with career spanning nearly four decades as well as an Academy Award-nominated actor.

  Born in Los Angeles, Gordon began playing clarinet at the age of 13, but switched to the saxophone by the time he was 15. Gordon was playing as a member of Lionel Hampton's band by 1940, and through the mid- to late-40s, would play with Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Billy Eckstine and Charlie Parker.

  Gordon was inactive for much of the 50s due to drug problems which resulted in jail time. He recovered by 1960 and began recording for Blue Note. In 1962, Gordon moved to Europe, where he would stay until the late 70s. Gordon made his last comeback in the 1986 movie 'Round Midnight in which he portrayed an expatriate jazz musician much like himself. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the role.

  Gordon died of kidney failure on April 25, 1990.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: February 27, 1923
  2. Died: April 25, 1990
  3. Known as "Long Tall Dexter" because of his 6'5" height
  4. Godfather To Metallica's Lars Ulrich

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Bud Powell | Lester Young | Sonny Rollins | John Coltrane | Charlie Parker | Charles Mingus | Bill Evans | Miles Davis | Thelonious Monk

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