Gordon was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of film Director Bert I. Gordon and his wife Flora (Lang). Susan began her career, at age eight, as a last minute substitute for another young Actress in 1958's Attack of the Puppet People, directed by her father, who subsequently directed her in three additional films — The Boy and the Pirates, Tormented (both 1960) and 1966's Picture Mommy Dead, her final film. In 1959, she acted and sang in the semi-biographical film, The Five Pennies, playing the daughter of musician, Composer and bandleader Red Nichols, portrayed by Danny Kaye.