Don Porter
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Sep 24, 1912
- Died
- Feb 11, 1997 (aged 84)
- Place of birth
- Miami, Oklahoma, USA
- Credits
- 74
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
1986TV
Erskine Tate
Hotel
1982TV
Jonathan Corry
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
1980Movie
Judge Oliver Haynes
The Last Song
1980Movie
Philip Brockhurst
The Murder That Wouldn't Die
1980Movie
Gen. Rocky Jensen
Interview with Pontius Pilate
1980Movie
Theodore Michael
Tropic of Desire
1979Movie
Commodore Phillips
Vega$
1978TV
The Paper Chase
1978TV
Dallas
1978TV
Matt Devlin
The President's Mistress
1978Movie
Craig
Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
1977Movie
Caufield
The Love Boat
1977TV
Slade Summerhill, George Cowens
Three's Company
1977TV
City of Angels
1976TV
The Bionic Woman
1976TV
Ellery Queen
1975TV
Switch
1975TV
Paul Lorimer, Salvensen
A Woman for All Men
1975Movie
Barney
White Line Fever
1975Movie
Cutler
Last Hours Before Morning
1975Movie
Mr. Pace
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
1975Movie
George Robinson
Archer
1975TV
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
1974Movie
Ed Murphy
Murder or Mercy
1974Movie
Henry Balin
Mame
1974Movie
Mr. Upson
The Morning After
1974Movie
Rudy King
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974TV
Dr. Stanley Bacon
40 Carats
1973Movie
Mr. Latham
The Norliss Tapes
1973Movie
Sanford T. Evans
Barnaby Jones
1973TV
Jeremy Markham
The Rookies
1972TV
The Candidate
1972Movie
Senator Crocker Jarmon
Love, American Style
1969TV
Hawaii Five-O
1969TV
Jonathan Cavel, Alex Kelsey
Live a Little, Love a Little
1968Movie
Mike Lansdown
The Mod Squad
1968TV
Here's Lucy
1968TV
Ken Richards
Judd, for the Defense
1967TV
The F.B.I.
1965TV
Mason Hammond
Green Acres
1965TV
Gidget
1965TV
Professor Russell Lawrence
Youngblood Hawke
1964Movie
Ferdie Lax
Gidget Goes to Rome
1963Movie
Russell Lawrence
Vacation Playhouse
1963TV
Battersea, The Housekeeper
Bachelor in Paradise
1961Movie
Thomas W. Jynson
Desk Set
1957Movie
Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Our Miss Brooks
1956Movie
Lawrence Nolan
Private Secretary
1953TV
Because You're Mine
1952Movie
Captain Burton Nordell Loring
The Savage
1952Movie
Running Dog
The Turning Point
1952Movie
Joe Silbray
Cripple Creek
1952Movie
Denver Jones
The Fallbrook Story
1952Movie
Narrator
The Racket
1951Movie
R. G. Connolly
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950Movie
Myron Brynk
711 Ocean Drive
1950Movie
Larry Mason
My Friend Irma Goes West
1950Movie
Mr. Brent
Buck Privates Come Home
1947Movie
Capt. Christie
Wild Beauty
1946Movie
Dr. Dave Morrow
Danger Woman
1946Movie
Professor Claude Ruppert
Cuban Pete
1946Movie
Roberts
She-Wolf of London
1946Movie
Barry Lanfield
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
1944Movie
Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot
How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
1944Movie
Captain Dick
Keep 'Em Slugging
1943Movie
Jerry
Reconnaissance Pilot
1943Movie
Camera Instructor
Madame Spy
1942Movie
David Bannister
Who Done It?
1942Movie
'Murder at Midnight' program manager
Night Monster
1942Movie
Dick Baldwin
Eyes of the Underworld
1942Movie
Edward Jason
Eagle Squadron
1942Movie
Ramsey
Top Sergeant
1942Movie
Al Bennett
Mystery of the White Room
1939Movie
Dr. Donald Fox