Anita Gordon

At the age of 6, Anita Gordon and her family moved in 1935 from Texas to Hollywood where she became a successful child star. As a teenager on network radio, she achieved singing fame as a regular on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's show (Edgar's famous dummy Charlie McCarthy allegedly was smitten with her). She was the voice who said "I don't talk to strangers.." on the Buddy Clark hit "Linda" in 1946, and voiced the part of the Singing Harp who helped Mickey Mouse escape from the Beanstalk Giant with "...in his right vest pocket you'll find a key..." for Disney in 1947. In the early days of television, Anita was a regular on The Ken Murray Show, and later a featured singer on the Tennessee Ernie Ford Show on ABC. In 1948, she married Dale Sheets, later an MCA/Universal executive, and gave birth to three girls. In the 60's, she appeared on various episodic television shows, then enjoyed a mini-career as the "ghost singer" for various female movie stars in movie musicals. In the 80's and 90's she wrote music for, and co-produced videos for various international clients including Philippine Airlines and Continental Airlines. Although Anita and Dale eventually divorced, she and husband of 41 years El Chan, retired to Newhall, California in 2000, where they stayed active and in touch with her three daughters, 9 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren. Anita's health declined rapidly in the year before her death in 2015. Show less «