Gordon Gebert

Gordon Alan Gebert II was the only child of Gordon Alan Gebert Sr. and Violette Gebert. His father was a salesman for a trailer company and later managed sales of truck and bus fleets for the Ford Motor Co. in Iowa. In 1946, a boy was needed for a role in a play for Drake University. Gordon was chosen and received acting lessons through the theatre. In 1948, Gordon and his parents moved to Los Angeles and Gordon started at Pasadena Playhouse in a production of 'Life With Father', opposite Victor Jory. An agent saw him and he was cast in a bit part in the film Come to the Stable (1949), which starred Loretta Young and Celeste Holm. His next film was Holiday Affair (1949), where he got the pivotal role as Janet Leigh's son. The Des Moines Tribune reviewer wrote, "Gordon Gebert boldly and skillfully walks away with the whole 'Affair.' Not from unknowns or has-beens, either. He's up against such polished operators as Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh and Wendell Corey." The Milwaukee Sentinel critic wrote that the film "shows up young Gebert as a screen natural." He made more films with stars such as Burt Lancaster, Dan Duryea, Joel McCrea, Ray Milland, and John Wayne. He even portrayed young Audie Murphy in Murphy's autobiographical film, To Hell and Back (1955). As he grew up, he became interested in architecture. Graduating from Van Nuys High School, he attended both UCLA and USC but did not graduate. Then he drove across the country and stopped at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he applied. He was accepted and never returned to acting. In June 1966, he graduated with his bachelor's degree in architecture. He then attended Princeton University and graduated from there with his master's degree in January 1968. He taught at Princeton for a year before becoming part of the staff of New York's City College School of Architecture in July 1969. He is a professor teaching Modeling, Digital Media, Design and Construction Technology. He has been a consultant to various agencies including US Veterans Affairs, US Public Health Service, and the Department of Defense. In 1986, while in line for a flight to a speaking engagement, he met his future wife, Lizabeth Paravisini, a professor at Vassar College. They married and have a son, Gordon Alan Gebert III.