Denise Georgette Gordy (born November 11, 1949) is an American former film and television actress and singer. She is a niece of Motown founder
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...
.
Family and career
Denise Georgette Gordy was born in Detroit, Michigan. She is a daughter of George and Rosemary
Gordy
''Gordy'' is a 1994 American family comedy-drama film directed by Mark Lewis, about a livestock piglet named Gordy who searches for his missing family (who are taken away to a slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska). He experiences the lives of others ...
and sister of Patrice and George Gordy, Jr., among others. Motown founder
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...
is her uncle; her aunt is
Anna Gordy Gaye
Anna Ruby Gaye (née Gordy; January 28, 1922 – January 31, 2014) was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records ...
.
Gordy has appeared in numerous television and theatrical features, beginning in 1972 with '' Lady Sings the Blues'' as a dancer in the nightclub chorus. In 1974, Gordy appeared in ''Black Fist'' and ending most recently with ''Toy Soldiers'' in 1991. Gordy also has contributed vocals to the soundtrack album for the film ''Black Fist'', which was originally titled ''Bogard'', as well as recording the song "Let's Do It Again" for that same movie.
Personal life
Gordy was married to actor Richard Lawson from December 31, 1978Ancestry.com. Nevada, Marriage Index, 1956–2005 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007. until 1989. They share one child, actress
Bianca Lawson
Bianca Jasmine Lawson is an American film and television actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'', ''Goode Behavior'', ''Pretty Little Liars'', and '' Rogue''. She has also had r ...
. Gordy is also the biological mother of Marvin Gaye III, who was born on November 17, 1965 when she was sixteen years old. His biological father, singer
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
, was twenty six years old and married to Gordy's aunt Anna at the time. She agreed to give birth to the child because her aunt was unable to conceive. Shortly after Marvin III's birth, Anna adopted him.