Don Porter

Acting

Born September 24, 1912, Miami, Oklahoma, USA

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.

Filmography

• Matlock — Erskine Tate
• Hotel — Jonathan Corry
• 1980Interview with Pontius Pilate — Theodore Michael
• 1980The Ghosts of Buxley Hall — Judge Oliver Haynes
• 1980The Last Song — Philip Brockhurst
• 1980The Murder That Wouldn't Die — Gen. Rocky Jensen
• 1979Tropic of Desire — Commodore Phillips
• Dallas — Matt Devlin
• The Paper Chase
• 1978The President's Mistress — Craig
• Vega$
• 1977Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A. — Caufield
• The Love Boat — Slade Summerhill, George Cowens
• Three's Company
• City of Angels
• The Bionic Woman
• 1975A Woman for All Men — Barney
• Archer
• Ellery Queen
• 1975Last Hours Before Morning — Mr. Pace
• Switch — Paul Lorimer, Salvensen
• 1975The Legend of Lizzie Borden — George Robinson
• 1975White Line Fever — Cutler
• 1974Happy Anniversary and Goodbye — Ed Murphy
• 1974Mame — Mr. Upson
• 1974Murder or Mercy — Henry Balin
• 1974The Morning After — Rudy King
• The Six Million Dollar Man — Dr. Stanley Bacon
• 197340 Carats — Mr. Latham
• Barnaby Jones — Jeremy Markham
• 1973The Norliss Tapes — Sanford T. Evans
• 1972The Candidate — Senator Crocker Jarmon
• The Rookies
• Hawaii Five-O — Jonathan Cavel, Alex Kelsey
• Love, American Style
• Here's Lucy — Ken Richards
• 1968Live a Little, Love a Little — Mike Lansdown
• The Mod Squad
• Judd, for the Defense
• Gidget — Professor Russell Lawrence, Director
• Green Acres
• The F.B.I. — Mason Hammond
• 1964Youngblood Hawke — Ferdie Lax
• 1963Gidget Goes to Rome — Russell Lawrence
• Vacation Playhouse — Battersea, The Housekeeper
• 1961Bachelor in Paradise — Thomas W. Jynson
• 1957Desk Set — Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
• 1956Our Miss Brooks — Lawrence Nolan
• Private Secretary
• 1952Because You're Mine — Captain Burton Nordell Loring
• 1952Cripple Creek — Denver Jones
• 1952The Fallbrook Story — Narrator
• 1952The Savage — Running Dog
• 1952The Turning Point — Joe Silbray
• 1951The Racket — R. G. Connolly
• 1950711 Ocean Drive — Larry Mason
• 1950Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone — Myron Brynk
• 1950My Friend Irma Goes West — Mr. Brent
• 1947Buck Privates Come Home — Capt. Christie
• 1946Cuban Pete — Roberts
• 1946Danger Woman — Professor Claude Ruppert
• 1946She-Wolf of London — Barry Lanfield
• 1946Wild Beauty — Dr. Dave Morrow
• 1944How to Fly the B-26 Airplane — Captain Dick
• 1944Resisting Enemy Interrogation — Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot
• 1943Keep 'Em Slugging — Jerry
• 1943Reconnaissance Pilot — Camera Instructor
• 1942Eagle Squadron — Ramsey
• 1942Eyes of the Underworld — Edward Jason
• 1942Madame Spy — David Bannister
• 1942Night Monster — Dick Baldwin
• 1942Top Sergeant — Al Bennett
• 1942Who Done It? — 'Murder at Midnight' program manager
• 1939Mystery of the White Room — Dr. Donald Fox