Born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr. in New York City to vaudevillian Charles Thomas Aldrich and his wife, English actress Gloria Gordon, Gale Gordon's first big radio break came via the recurring roles of "Mayor La Trivia" and "Foggy Williams" on Fibber McGee and Molly, before playing Rumson Bullard on the show's successful spinoff, The Great Gildersleeve.

The Gregory Hood program was continued on the fall schedule for the subsequent season after the network failed to reach a contractual agreement with the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the Sherlock Holmes franchise.

It was cancelled by Mutual after one full season, but returned periodically on ABC in 1948 and following years, with other actors playing the title role.

In the interim, Gordon turned up as Rudolph Atterbury on My Favorite Husband, which starred Lucille Ball in a precursor to I Love Lucy.

[5] The widely acknowledged master of the "slow-burn" temper explosion in character,[citation needed] Gordon was the first pick to play Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, but he was committed to Our Miss Brooks as well as being a regular on several other radio shows, and had to decline the offer[6] (the role went to William Frawley).

In 1958, Gordon appeared as a regular in the role of department store co-owner Bascomb Bleacher Sr., on the NBC sitcom Sally, starring Joan Caulfield and Marion Lorne.

[8] At this time, he guest starred with Pat O'Brien in the ABC sitcom, Harrigan and Son, the story of a father-and-son lawyer team.

Prior to Gordon's replacing Kearns on Dennis the Menace, the two had worked together on an old radio show, The Cinnamon Bear and also appeared with Eve Arden and Richard Crenna in Our Miss Brooks (1953–55), where Kearns first played Assistant Superintendent Michaels and later (in eight episodes) as Superintendent Stone, a role that he had played on radio.

He was also honorary mayor of the town and commuted approximately 160 mi (260 km) to and from Los Angeles every day when working for Ball.

In addition to acting, Gordon was an accomplished author, penning two books in the 1940s entitled Nursery Rhymes for Hollywood Babies and Leaves from the Story Trees, and two one-act plays.

Gordon died of lung cancer on June 30, 1995, at the Redwood Terrace Health Center in Escondido, California, aged 89.