Don Porter

Don Porter

  • Birthday: 1912-09-24
  • Deathday: 1997-02-11
  • Place of birth: Miami, Oklahoma, USA
  • Also know as: Donald Porter

Biography

Donald "Don" Porter was an American actor who appeared in a number of films in the 1940s, including Top Sergeant and Eagle Squadron. On television, he portrayed the widowed father of 15-year-old Frances "Gidget" Lawrence (Sally Field) in the 1965 ABC sitcom Gidget. Besides his work in film and television, Porter was active on stage, as he acted in more than 200 plays, including The Front Page, Plaza Suite, and Any Wednesday. He appeared in various films in the 1940s before landing the role of Peter Sands, the boss of Susan Camille MacNamara (Ann Sothern), on the 1950s sitcom Private Secretary. A retooled version of the series appeared later, titled The Ann Sothern Show. It featured many of the same actors, including Porter as hotel manager James Devery in the venue of a fashionable New York City hotel. He later guest starred on episodes of Green Acres, Love, American Style, The Mod Squad, Barnaby Jones, The Six Million Dollar Man, Hawaii Five-O, Three's Company (on which he played Jack Tripper's uncle), and Switch.

Filmography

She-Wolf of London

1946

As Barry Lanfield

Danger Woman

1946

As Professor Claude Ruppert

Wild Beauty

1946

As Dr. Dave Morrow

How to Fly the B-26 Airplane

1944

As Captain Dick

The Norliss Tapes

1973

As Sanford T. Evans

Night Monster

1942

As Dick Baldwin

Madame Spy

1942

As David Bannister

Live a Little, Love a Little

1968

As Mike Lansdown

Our Miss Brooks

1956

As Lawrence Nolan

The Morning After

1974

As Rudy King

The Candidate

1972

As Senator Crocker Jarmon

Cuban Pete

1946

As Roberts

The Fallbrook Story

1952

As Narrator

Eyes of the Underworld

1942

As Edward Jason

The Legend of Lizzie Borden

1975

As George Robinson

Murder or Mercy

1974

As Henry Balin

Top Sergeant

1942

As Al Bennett

Happy Anniversary and Goodbye

1974

As Ed 'Mad Dog' Murphy

White Line Fever

1975

As Cutler

711 Ocean Drive

1950

As Larry Mason

Bachelor in Paradise

1961

As Thomas W. Jynson

Cripple Creek

1952

As Denver Jones

The Savage

1952

As Running Dog

A Woman for All Men

1975

As Barney

Buck Privates Come Home

1947

As Capt. Christie

Tropic of Desire

1979

As Commodore Phillips

Youngblood Hawke

1964

As Ferdie Lax

Keep 'Em Slugging

1943

As Jerry

My Friend Irma Goes West

1950

As Mr. Brent

40 Carats

1973

As Mr. Latham

The Last Song

1980

As Philip Brockhurst

Last Hours Before Morning

1975

As Mr. Pace

The Ghosts of Buxley Hall

1980

As Judge Oliver Haynes

Because You're Mine

1952

As Captain Burton Nordell Loring

The Turning Point

1952

As Joe Silbray

Mame

1974

As Mr. Upson

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

1950

As Myron Brynk

Reconnaissance Pilot

1943

As Camera Instructor

Resisting Enemy Interrogation

1944

As Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot

The Racket

1951

As R. G. Connolly

Eagle Squadron

1942

As Ramsey

Mystery of the White Room

1939

As Dr. Donald Fox

Gidget Goes to Rome

1963

As Russell Lawrence

Who Done It?

1942

As 'Murder at Midnight' program manager

The Murder That Wouldn't Die

1980

As Gen. Rocky Jensen

Desk Set

1957

As Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)

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