Don Porter
Acting • Born 1912-09-24 – Died 1997-02-11
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.
Filmography
76 credits
The Candidate
Movie • 1972
Senator Crocker Jarmon
The Racket
Movie • 1951
R. G. Connolly
Buck Privates Come Home
Movie • 1947
Capt. Christie
White Line Fever
Movie • 1975
Cutler
711 Ocean Drive
Movie • 1950
Larry Mason
The Turning Point
Movie • 1952
Joe Silbray
She-Wolf of London
Movie • 1946
Barry Lanfield
Who Done It?
Movie • 1942
'Murder at Midnight' program manager
The Norliss Tapes
Movie • 1973
Sanford T. Evans
Live a Little, Love a Little
Movie • 1968
Mike Lansdown
Bachelor in Paradise
Movie • 1961
Thomas W. Jynson
Danger Woman
Movie • 1946
Professor Claude Ruppert
Our Miss Brooks
Movie • 1956
Lawrence Nolan
Eyes of the Underworld
Movie • 1942
Edward Jason
Night Monster
Movie • 1942
Dick Baldwin
Youngblood Hawke
Movie • 1964
Ferdie Lax
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
Movie • 1944
Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot
Desk Set
Movie • 1957
Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Cripple Creek
Movie • 1952
Denver Jones
The Morning After
Movie • 1974
Rudy King
Cuban Pete
Movie • 1946
Roberts
The Savage
Movie • 1952
Running Dog
Last Hours Before Morning
Movie • 1975
Mr. Pace
The Murder That Wouldn't Die
Movie • 1980
Gen. Rocky Jensen
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
Movie • 1975
George Robinson
Murder or Mercy
Movie • 1974
Henry Balin
Mame
Movie • 1974
Mr. Upson
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
Movie • 1980
Judge Oliver Haynes
Wild Beauty
Movie • 1946
Dr. Dave Morrow
Eagle Squadron
Movie • 1942
Ramsey
Top Sergeant
Movie • 1942
Al Bennett
Tropic of Desire
Movie • 1979
Commodore Phillips
Interview with Pontius Pilate
Movie • 1980
Theodore Michael
Madame Spy
Movie • 1942
David Bannister
The President's Mistress
Movie • 1978
Craig
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Movie • 1950
Myron Brynk
Keep 'Em Slugging
Movie • 1943
Jerry
My Friend Irma Goes West
Movie • 1950
Mr. Brent
A Woman for All Men
Movie • 1975
Barney
40 Carats
Movie • 1973
Mr. Latham
Mystery of the White Room
Movie • 1939
Dr. Donald Fox
Gidget Goes to Rome
Movie • 1963
Russell Lawrence
Reconnaissance Pilot
Movie • 1943
Camera Instructor
How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
Movie • 1944
Captain Dick
The Last Song
Movie • 1980
Philip Brockhurst
Because You're Mine
Movie • 1952
Captain Burton Nordell Loring
The Fallbrook Story
Movie • 1952
Narrator
Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
Movie • 1977
Caufield
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
Movie • 1974
Ed 'Mad Dog' Murphy
The Rookies
TV • 1972
Green Acres
TV • 1965
Here's Lucy
TV • 1968
Ken Richards
Gidget
TV • 1965
Professor Russell Lawrence
The F.B.I.
TV • 1965
Mason Hammond
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Slade Summerhill
Matlock
TV • 1986
Erskine Tate
The Bionic Woman
TV • 1976
Hawaii Five-O
TV • 1968
Jonathan Cavel
Hotel
TV • 1982
The Mod Squad
TV • 1968
Three's Company
TV • 1977
Dallas
TV • 1978
Matt Devlin
Vega$
TV • 1978
Switch
TV • 1975
Paul Lorimer
City of Angels
TV • 1976
Judd for the Defense
TV • 1967
Private Secretary
TV • 1953
Ellery Queen
TV • 1975
The Paper Chase
TV • 1978
Vacation Playhouse
TV • 1963
Battersea, The Housekeeper
Archer
TV • 1975
Love, American Style
TV • 1969
The Six Million Dollar Man
TV • 1974
Dr. Stanley Bacon
Hawaii Five-O
TV • 1968
Alex Kelsey
Switch
TV • 1975
Salvensen
Barnaby Jones
TV • 1973
Jeremy Markham