| Character Profile | List of appearances |
Gordon Hilton Cunningham was the father of Dawn, Jude, Max and Cindy Cunningham with his first wife Angela Cunningham, as well as father to Tom Cunningham with his second wife Helen.
Biography[]
1952-1995: Early Life[]
Gordon was born in 1952 to Cyril Cunningham and his wife. He went on to marry Angela and had four children with her: Dawn Cunningham in 1975, Jude Cunningham in 1978, Cindy Cunningham in 1981, and Max Cunningham in 1982. After their marriage turned sour, the pair went through a bitter divorce. Unbeknownst to Gordon, at this time, Dawn fell pregnant during an affair with Jack Osborne, the father of her best friend Ruth. Following the divorce, Gordon moved out of 12 Tatton Crescent. However, Dawn kept in contact with Gordon due to her dislike of Angela's boyfriend Terry Williams, to Angela's fury.
1996-1998: Family Revelations[]
Gordon re-entered his family's lives in March 1996, timed with Jude's return from living in London. Gordon decided to initiate a custody battle over Max and Cindy, with Terry's interfering making matters between Angela and Gordon worse. Pushed by close friend Jambo Bolton, Dawn told Gordon about her affair with Jack, resulting in the birth of a daughter who she had adopted. After Terry suddenly left Angela following her cancer diagnosis and masectomy, Gordon attempted to help Angela settle the £55,000 he had left her. This ultimately calmed tensions between the pair and Gordon began playing a more active role in Max and Cindy's lives.
Gordon began settling into the village, becoming the landlord of Got It Taped and opening Cunningham Driving School next door. However, devastation would soon hit the family when Dawn was diagnosed with leukemia and died on Christmas Day. A shock was then delivered when Cindy collapsed at Dawn's funeral, with the doctor informing Gordon and Angela that Cindy had recently given birth.
Gordon managed to find the baby, named Holly by the staff at the hospital she had been abandoned at, and reunited her with Cindy. Gordon made Cindy become a mother to Holly, with the family's support. Cindy ended up silently suffering from post-natal depression and Jude caught Cindy attempting to suffocate Holly. The incident resulted in Cindy changing her mind about Holly and she decided to become a mother to her.
1998-2000: Relationship with Helen[]
On Christmas Day 1998, an intoxicated Gordon ended up sleeping with recent divorcee Helen Richardson - the mother of Cindy's best friend Mandy. The pair continued to have a fling, whilst Gordon asked Mandy to be the model for Cunningham Driving School. Helen's son Lewis found a positive pregnancy test and after learning that it was Helen's, informed Gordon. Gordon proposed to Helen who initially rejected but changed her mind. Due to her age, Helen was informed that there was a likely chance that her baby would be born with Down's Syndrome, but Helen decided against an abortion.
At the same time, the family began having problems with Cindy's abusive boyfriend Sean Tate. Max witnessed Sean's abusive behaviours towards Cindy's daughter Holly and when Cindy refused to listen, Max told Gordon. Gordon's attempts to separate Cindy and Sean only resulted in Cindy moving in with Sean to a caravan park and cutting contact with the family. However, she returned to the Cunninghams' after Sean left her and Holly to take up a job in Tenerife.
Despite the disagreements with the Cunningham and Richardson families over Helen and Gordon's decision to marry, the pair married quickly in a ceremony in August 1999. Shortly afterwards, Gordon opened convenience store Drive 'n' Buy. On Millenium Eve, Helen went into labour and Mandy helped deliver a baby boy who they named Tom. After the driving school closed, Gordon suggested that Helen opened a drycleaning store in its place and Washed Up was opened in August 2000.
2001-2003: Role in the Community[]
In amidst running Drive 'n' Buy and looking after Tom, Gordon ended up involved in many of Max and O.B.'s money-making schemes. In January 2001, the pair borrowed a sampler, recorded Gordon shouting "get down with that thing!" at Tom, and turned it into a track - Get Down With That Thing - which was played in The Loft. However, the track was not well received. Following the death of councillor Charlie Brooks, Gordon decided to run for his place, competing with Tony Hutchinson. A bitter battle ensued between the pair, with Gordon ultimately winning the seat in August 2001. However, at Gordon's first planned event - a village fête - Tony caused chaos when he accidentally spiked the food with marijuana.
A spiralling Lewis committed suicide after nearly forcing himself on Ruth in October 2001, leaving the Cunningham-Richardson family torn: Helen was left devastated by his death, whilst Mandy turned on him due to his rape attempt on Ruth. Gordon was left to hold the family together, but struggled with both this and the press attention. Helen and Gordon's relationship also began to struggle as Helen decided to adopt Anna Green's unborn baby despite Gordon's objections, and Helen lashed out at Gordon on Christmas Day.
In May 2002, Gordon received a letter informing him that Queen Elizabeth II was set to make an appearance in Chester, wanting Gordon to serve as her personal guide. Gordon excitedly made grand preparations, only to learn that his tenants Nick O'Connor and Jodie Nash had sent the letter as a prank. He ultimately retaliated by evicting them from 2a Oakdale Drive. Mandy's friend Laura Burns began manipulating the family to drive a wedge between Mandy and Helen, and Helen began an affair with Tony. Gordon discovered the affair in February 2003 when an earthquake hit the village. Helen decided to leave Gordon for Tony, but Tony convinced Helen and Gordon to reconcile for Tom's sake.
2004-2018: Death and Aftermath[]
Gordon suffered a heart attack in January 2004, nearly killing him. Merely a few weeks later, Gordon, Helen and Tom were involved in a car accident when a distracted Helen pulled in front of a truck at an intersection. The trio were rushed to hospital, but Gordon ended up suffering another heart attack and died. Helen also died of her injuries a few days later.
After the sudden death of his mother, Bombhead suffered a mental breakdown and began seeing the ghost of Gordon, who he had formed a bond with before his death. Bombhead would talk to his friends about Gordon as if he was still alive, confusing them until Lee Hunter found the body of Bombhead's mother and realised that he was having a mental breakdown. After receiving a medical intervention, Bombhead stopped seeing Gordon's ghost.
The driver of the truck, Milo Entwistle, ended up developing an obsession with the accident from the guilt of leaving Tom orphaned. He ended up collecting newspaper clippings and also obtained the Cunninghams' car. Milo arrived in the village in June 2017, befriending the Cunninghams and moving in with Cindy and Holly until leaving for Birmingham after being crushed by a car in August 2018.
Appendices[]
Residences[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| 12 Tatton Crescent | 1996 to 16th February 2004 |
Employment History[]
| Job | Duration |
|---|---|
| Cunningham Driving School owner/driver | Until 2000 |
| Drive 'n' Buy owner/shopkeeper | 30th August 1999 to 16th February 2004 |
| Councillor | August 2001 to February 2004 |
Background Information[]
- In Episode 1, Mr C. is partially seen, played by an uncredited walk-on actor.
- Mr C. was initially contracted for six episodes, but actor Bernard Latham impressed producers by attempting to add comedy to serious scenes, leading to their decision to introduce Mr. C permanently.
- In 2003, producer Jo Hallows decided to axe both Mr C. and Helen Cunningham after executive producer Phil Redmond wanted a shocking double death, with the characters' final scenes airing in February 2004.
- Hallows later regretted the decision and decided to bring Mr C. as a ghost. Latham initially declined, not liking the initial storyline. He suggested that Mr C. should return as a figment of a character's imagination, an idea Hallows agreed to. Latham made his 'post-death' appearances as Gordon from June to November 2004.
- Following his departure from Hollyoaks, Latham has reprised the role of Gordon in two non-canon appearances. In June 2008, Latham appeared as 'Mr. C' for a sequence during Matt Littler's T4 interview after the death of Littler's character Max Cunningham. In October 2009, Latham was credited as 'Mr. C' in Hollyoaks: The Good, the Bad and the Gorgeous.
Quotes[]
