Happiness Quote by Gale Gordon

There is a quiet kind of starstruck humility in Gale Gordon’s phrasing, and it lands because it refuses the flashy version of celebrity worship. “Years and years” isn’t just emphasis; it signals a long private relationship with Burton’s work, built at a distance, before the industry’s backstage access could flatten it into mere familiarity. Gordon, a consummate professional often associated with sharp comic timing and reliable character work, positions himself as a witness, not a rival. That choice matters: it frames Burton’s talent as something that survives proximity.

The doubled “great, great actor” reads almost old-fashioned, like a man reaching for a superlative big enough to fit the myth without turning it into gossip. It’s also a subtle declaration of values. Gordon isn’t praising Burton’s looks, scandals, or tabloid aura (which, in Burton’s case, would be the easy route). He’s insisting the work comes first, a kind of industry corrective aimed at a culture that treats performance as personality.

Then the turn: “It was a joy to get to know him as a person.” The subtext is that Burton could have disappointed. Many legends do. Gordon’s sentence carries the relief of having admiration confirmed rather than complicated. It’s also a gentle act of reputation management: Burton, famously intense and publicly messy, is granted a private tenderness here. Gordon isn’t mythmaking; he’s testifying that the man behind the myth was, at least to one colleague, worth meeting.