Don Porter
Acting
- Born:
- 1912-09-24
- Died:
- 1997-02-11
- Place of birth:
- Miami, Oklahoma, USA
Biography
Donald "Don" Porter (September 24, 1912 –February 11, 1997) was an American actor who appeared in a number of films since 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.
Known For
Filmography
Matlock
Hotel
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
The Last Song
The Murder That Wouldn't Die
Interview with Pontius Pilate
Tropic of Desire
Vega$
The Paper Chase
Dallas
The President's Mistress
Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
The Love Boat
Three's Company
City of Angels
The Bionic Woman
Ellery Queen
Switch
A Woman for All Men
White Line Fever
Last Hours Before Morning
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
Archer
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
Murder or Mercy
Mame
The Morning After
The Six Million Dollar Man
40 Carats
The Norliss Tapes
Barnaby Jones
The Rookies
The Candidate
Love, American Style
Hawaii Five-O
Live a Little, Love a Little
The Mod Squad
Here's Lucy
Judd, for the Defense
The F.B.I.
Green Acres
Gidget
Youngblood Hawke
Gidget Goes to Rome
Vacation Playhouse
Bachelor in Paradise
Desk Set
Our Miss Brooks
Private Secretary
Because You're Mine
The Savage
The Turning Point
Cripple Creek
The Fallbrook Story
The Racket
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
711 Ocean Drive
My Friend Irma Goes West
Buck Privates Come Home
Wild Beauty
Danger Woman
Cuban Pete
She-Wolf of London
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
Keep 'Em Slugging
Reconnaissance Pilot
Madame Spy
Who Done It?
Night Monster
Eyes of the Underworld
Eagle Squadron
Top Sergeant
Mystery of the White Room