Charles Jordan was born in Berkeley, California to Charles Renalt Jordan, a wholesale supply manager and chicken farmer, and Mary Louise (Thornton) Jordan; he had a younger sister, Margaret Louise (1891-1959). When he was 10 years old, he saw Harry Kellar perform, which inspired him to develop his own card tricks.

He moved to Penngrove, and self-published Thirty Card Mysteries in 1919. In it, he described "The Jordan Count", and "The Gray Code", two methods of false counting. In 1920, he self-published the five-part Ten New Prepared Card Tricks series, with contributions from Thomas Nelson Downs.^[1]

In 1935, he was contacted by Theodore Annemann, who wanted to publish a collection of his work. However, the series was abandoned.^{[citation needed]} Many of Jordan’s tricks were later collected and published by Karl Fulves. ^{[citation needed]}

Jordan never performed in public. He died in Vallejo after a long illness.^{[citation needed]}