Jordan Christopher (October 23, 1940 – January 21, 1996) was an American actor and singer. He was the lead singer of The Wild Ones, who recorded the original version of the rock classic " Wild Thing" after Christopher had left the band.

Early life

Born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, to Macedonian immigrants Eli and Dorothy Zankoff, he moved at an early age to

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, where his father ran a downtown bar.

Music and marriage

Christopher became interested in singing with the rise of rock & roll, spending much of his time at the music clubs in Akron's black neighborhoods. He formed a doo-wop group called the Fascinations, who released unsuccessful singles on several small labels in the early 1960s. Christopher's break came when he joined The Wild Ones, the house band at New York's

Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many claim ...

, as singer and guitarist. After a residency at the Peppermint Lounge of eight months, The Wild Ones were hired to play at Arthur, the Manhattan discothèque operated by Sybil Williams, then recently divorced from

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

. Within a month of meeting, Christopher and Williamseleven years his seniorbegan dating and married in 1966. They had a daughter named Amy, and he had a daughter named Jodi from a previous marriage. Thanks to the publicity Williams received as the ex-wife of Richard Burton, there was great interest in Arthur, and The Wild Ones were able to secure a recording contract with

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

, releasing an album, ''The Arthur Sound''. However, Christopher left the band shortly after its release to develop an acting career. Producer

Gerry Granahan Gerald Granahan (April 20, 1932 – January 10, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work in the 1950s and 1960s. Life and career Granahan was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania on April 20, 1932. He ...

later commissioned

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...

songwriter

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". Early life Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of ...

to write a song specifically for the band. "Wild Thing"sung by the band's new lead vocalist, Chuck Alden, not Christopherwas the result.

Acting

Christopher acted in several films including ''

The Fat Spy ''The Fat Spy'' is a 1966 Z movie that attempts to parody teenage beach party films rather than spy films. It was filmed at Cape Coral, Florida. It is featured in the 2004 documentary ''The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made''. Briefly released to theate ...

'' (1966), ''

Return of the Seven ''Return of the Seven'', later marketed as ''Return of the Magnificent Seven'', is a 1966 American-Spanish Western film, and the first sequel to ''The Magnificent Seven'' (1960). Yul Brynner, who reprises his role as Chris Adams, is the sole re ...

'' (1966), '' The Tree'' (1969), ''

Pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

'' (1971), ''

Star 80 ''Star 80'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Village Voice'' article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and is based on Canadian ''Playboy'' mo ...

'' (1983), '' Brainstorm'' (1983) and ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'' (1986). However his most celebrated role was as a dissolute rock star in the cult film ''

Angel, Angel, Down We Go ''Angel, Angel, Down We Go'', also known as ''Cult of the Damned'', is a 1969 American film directed by playwright and screenwriter Robert Thom, his sole directorial credit. Thom based his screenplay on an unproduced stage play of the same title ...

'' (1969), in which he played the male lead opposite

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

. He also appeared on Broadway in ''

Sleuth Sleuth may refer to: * Detective *Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears Computing * The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software *SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107 Entertainment and media *Cloo Cloo (stylized ...

''.

Later life

Christopher continued to act intermittently, and he worked behind the scenes with his wife in her operation of the New Theatre on 54th Street in New York City and Bay Street Theater in

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

. Christopher died of a heart attack on January 21, 1996, at the age of 55.

Filmography

References

Local history: Fascinating life for Buchtel alum -- Ohio.comThe Making Of… The Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’ -- Uncut

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Jordan 1940 births 1996 deaths American male film actors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Youngstown, Ohio Male actors from Akron, Ohio Singers from Ohio 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers