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