Who Are Those Guys ~ Jordan Christopher

Jordan Zankoff was born on October 23, 1940 in Youngstown, Ohio to Macedonian immigrants Eli and Dorothy Zankoff, he moved at an early age to Akron, where his father ran a downtown bar.

Christopher became interested in singing with the rise of rock & roll, spending much of his time at the music clubs in Akron's black section. In the late 1950s, he and pals Gene Blackford, Phil DiMascio and Darrel McDonald formed a doo-wop group called The Fascinations. Jordan married Mary DiGildo in 1961 and the couple welcomed a daughter named Jodi. The couple divorced in 1964 and he changed his name to Jordan Christopher and changed the group's name to Jordan and The Fascinations, who recorded for the Carol, Dapt, Crystal Ball and Josie labels. He was also the lead singer and guitarist for the Wild Ones, the house band for eight months at New York's Peppermint Lounge. The Wild Ones were hired to play at Arthur, the Manhattan discothèque operated by Sybil Williams, then recently divorced from Richard Burton. Within a month of meeting, Christopher and Williams – eleven years his senior – began dating and married in 1966. They had a daughter named Amy. Together they expanded her club into a popular nightclub chain with more than a dozen locations in the U.S..

After selling the chain in 1969, Christopher went on to a career as a stage and film actor. He appered in several films including “The Fat Spy” (1966), “Return of the Seven” (1966), “The Tree” (1969), “Pigeons” (1971), “Star 80” (1983), “Brainstorm” (1983) and “That's Life!” (1986). However his most celebrated role was as a dissolute rock star in the cult film “Angel, Angel, Down We Go” (1969), in which he played the male lead opposite Jennifer Jones. He also appeared on Broadway in Sleuth.

Christopher continued to act intermittently, and 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 . He died of a heart attack on January 21, 1996 in New York City.

CHRISTOPHER, Jordan (aka Jordon Christopher) (Jordan Christopher Zankoff) [10/23/1940, Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.A. – 1/21/1996, New York City, New York, U.S.A. (heart attack)] – theater, film, TV actor, singer, musician, married to Mary DiGildo (1961-1964) father of Jodi A. Zankoff [1962-    ], married to Sybil Williams [1929–2013] (1965-1996) father of Amy Christopher  [1967-    ], member of the bands “The Fascinations”, “Jordan and The Fascinations”, ‘The Wild Ones’ [1965].

Return of the Seven – 1966 (Manuel)