Acting · Miami, Oklahoma, USA · Born September 24, 1912
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.
TVMatlock
1986
as Erskine Tate
TVHotel
1982
as Jonathan Corry
MovieThe Ghosts of Buxley Hall
1980
as Judge Oliver Haynes
MovieThe Last Song
1980
as Philip Brockhurst
MovieThe Murder That Wouldn't Die
1980
as Gen. Rocky Jensen
Interview with Pontius Pilate
1980
as Theodore Michael
MovieTropic of Desire
1979
as Commodore Phillips
TVVega$
1978
TVThe Paper Chase
1978
TVDallas
1978
as Matt Devlin
MovieThe President's Mistress
1978
as Craig
MovieChristmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
1977
as Caufield
TVThe Love Boat
1977
as Slade Summerhill
TVThree's Company
1977
TVCity of Angels
1976
TVThe Bionic Woman
1976
TVEllery Queen
1975
TVSwitch
1975
as Paul Lorimer
MovieA Woman for All Men
1975
as Barney
MovieWhite Line Fever
1975
as Cutler
MovieLast Hours Before Morning
1975
as Mr. Pace
MovieThe Legend of Lizzie Borden
1975
as George Robinson
TVArcher
1975
MovieHappy Anniversary and Goodbye
1974
as Ed Murphy
MovieMurder or Mercy
1974
as Henry Balin
MovieMame
1974
as Mr. Upson
MovieThe Morning After
1974
as Rudy King
TVThe Six Million Dollar Man
1974
as Dr. Stanley Bacon
Movie40 Carats
1973
as Mr. Latham
MovieThe Norliss Tapes
1973
as Sanford T. Evans
TVBarnaby Jones
1973
as Jeremy Markham
TVThe Rookies
1972
MovieThe Candidate
1972
as Senator Crocker Jarmon
TVLove, American Style
1969
MovieLive a Little, Love a Little
1968
as Mike Lansdown
TVThe Mod Squad
1968
TVHere's Lucy
1968
as Ken Richards
TVHawaii Five-O
1968
as Jonathan Cavel
TVJudd, for the Defense
1967
TVThe F.B.I.
1965
as Mason Hammond
TVGreen Acres
1965
TVGidget
1965
as Professor Russell Lawrence
MovieYoungblood Hawke
1964
as Ferdie Lax
MovieGidget Goes to Rome
1963
as Russell Lawrence
Vacation Playhouse
1963
as Battersea, The Housekeeper
MovieBachelor in Paradise
1961
as Thomas W. Jynson
MovieDesk Set
1957
as Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
MovieOur Miss Brooks
1956
as Lawrence Nolan
TVPrivate Secretary
1953
MovieBecause You're Mine
1952
as Captain Burton Nordell Loring
MovieThe Savage
1952
as Running Dog
MovieThe Turning Point
1952
as Joe Silbray
MovieCripple Creek
1952
as Denver Jones
MovieThe Fallbrook Story
1952
as Narrator
MovieThe Racket
1951
as R. G. Connolly
MovieMrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950
as Myron Brynk
Movie711 Ocean Drive
1950
as Larry Mason
MovieMy Friend Irma Goes West
1950
as Mr. Brent
MovieBuck Privates Come Home
1947
as Capt. Christie
MovieWild Beauty
1946
as Dr. Dave Morrow
MovieDanger Woman
1946
as Professor Claude Ruppert
MovieCuban Pete
1946
as Roberts
MovieShe-Wolf of London
1946
as Barry Lanfield
MovieResisting Enemy Interrogation
1944
as Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot
MovieHow to Fly the B-26 Airplane
1944
as Captain Dick
MovieKeep 'Em Slugging
1943
as Jerry
MovieReconnaissance Pilot
1943
as Camera Instructor
MovieMadame Spy
1942
as David Bannister
MovieWho Done It?
1942
as 'Murder at Midnight' program manager
MovieNight Monster
1942
as Dick Baldwin
MovieEyes of the Underworld
1942
as Edward Jason
MovieEagle Squadron
1942
as Ramsey
MovieTop Sergeant
1942
as Al Bennett
MovieMystery of the White Room
1939
as Dr. Donald Fox
