Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan (November 16, 1896 – April 1, 1988) was an American radio actor and voice actor, best known for portraying Fibber McGee on Fibber McGee and Molly and voicing the albatross Orville in The Walt Disney Company film The Rescuers (1977).

His full name was James Edward Jordan, and he was born on a farm in Illinois near Peoria. He attended St. John's Church in Peoria, before his family eventually moved there after selling the farm.

Jordan met his future wife, Marian Driscoll Jordan, while in the church choir. The two were married on August 31, 1918.

Jim Jordan initially performed on the vaudeville circuit as a solo act, but later worked with Marian on several occasions until 1924. In 1923 the couple was broke, so their parents had to send them money so they could return to Peoria from Lincoln, Illinois.

Jim and Marian Jordan got their big break in radio while performing in Chicago in 1924. They were booked to perform for 26 weeks under the name The O'Henry Twins, sponsored by Oh Henry! Chocolate Bars.

Jim said he could give a better performance than the singers they were listening to on the radio, and his brother Byron bet $10 that Jim couldn't do it. By the end of the evening, Jim and Marian had their first radio contract, at $10 per show for 26 weeks as The O'Henry Twins, sponsored by Oh Henry! candy.

The Jordans would work as a double act for the remainder of their careers, Seldom appearing separately from each other, with Jim as the comic foil and Marian as the stooge. From 1931 to 1935, they produced the low-budget sitcom Smackout, in which they portrayed most of the characters (including semi-fictional versions of themselves). In 1935, the couple, along with head writer Don Quinn, teamed up to create Fibber McGee and Molly, a weekly sitcom that was given a larger budget and an ensemble cast.

Marian Jordan died in April 1961 of cancer. Jim Jordan remarried in 1962, to Gretchen Stewart (1909-1998). The couple remained together until his death. After Marian's death, Jordan went into semi-retirement.

Jim Jordan died in 1988, at the age of 91, at the Beverly Hills Medical Center, due to a cerebral embolism caused by a fall at home. He was buried next to Marian Jordan in the Holy Cross Cemetery, in Culver City.