Don Porter

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.

Movies & TV Shows

1. The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) — Dr. Stanley Bacon
2. The Bionic Woman (1976)
3. Dallas (1978) — Matt Devlin
4. The Love Boat (1977) — Slade Summerhill
5. The Candidate (1972) — Senator Crocker Jarmon
6. Three's Company (1977)
7. Hawaii Five-O (1968) — Jonathan Cavel
8. Matlock (1986) — Erskine Tate
9. Desk Set (1957) — Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
10. Green Acres (1965)
11. She-Wolf of London (1946) — Barry Lanfield
12. White Line Fever (1975) — Cutler
13. Who Done It? (1942) — 'Murder at Midnight' program manager
14. The Racket (1951) — R. G. Connolly
15. Ellery Queen (1975)
16. 711 Ocean Drive (1950) — Larry Mason
17. Night Monster (1942) — Dick Baldwin
18. The Turning Point (1952) — Joe Silbray
19. The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975) — George Robinson
20. Buck Privates Come Home (1947) — Capt. Christie
21. Mame (1974) — Mr. Upson
22. Here's Lucy (1968) — Ken Richards
23. Live a Little, Love a Little (1968) — Mike Lansdown
24. Barnaby Jones (1973) — Jeremy Markham
25. The Norliss Tapes (1973) — Sanford T. Evans
26. The Mod Squad (1968)
27. Hotel (1982) — Jonathan Corry
28. Bachelor in Paradise (1961) — Thomas W. Jynson
29. The F.B.I. (1965) — Mason Hammond
30. Vega$ (1978)
31. The Rookies (1972)
32. Love, American Style (1969)
33. The Savage (1952) — Running Dog
34. 40 Carats (1973) — Mr. Latham
35. My Friend Irma Goes West (1950) — Mr. Brent
36. A Woman for All Men (1975) — Barney
37. Gidget (1965) — Professor Russell Lawrence
38. Cripple Creek (1952) — Denver Jones
39. Gidget Goes to Rome (1963) — Russell Lawrence
40. Our Miss Brooks (1956) — Lawrence Nolan

Directed

1. Gidget (1965) — Director