Don Porter
Acting
Born: September 24, 1912 · Miami, Oklahoma, USA
Died: February 11, 1997 (aged 84)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
The Bionic Woman
1976
Dallas
1978
The Love Boat
1977
The Candidate
1972
Three's Company
1977
Hawaii Five-O
1968
Matlock
1986
Desk Set
1957
Green Acres
1965
She-Wolf of London
1946
White Line Fever
1975
Photos (3)
Movies (48)
Tropic of Desire
Commodore Phillips
She-Wolf of London
Barry Lanfield
40 Carats
Mr. Latham
The Candidate
Senator Crocker Jarmon
Mame
Mr. Upson
The Savage
Running Dog
Who Done It?
'Murder at Midnight' program manager
711 Ocean Drive
Larry Mason
Live a Little, Love a Little
Mike Lansdown
Buck Privates Come Home
Capt. Christie
The Racket
R. G. Connolly
Desk Set
Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Bachelor in Paradise
Thomas W. Jynson
Reconnaissance Pilot
Camera Instructor
My Friend Irma Goes West
Mr. Brent
The Turning Point
Joe Silbray
Cripple Creek
Denver Jones
Youngblood Hawke
Ferdie Lax
Mystery of the White Room
Dr. Donald Fox
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
George Robinson
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
Lt. Frank L. Williams, Jr. - American Co-pilot
White Line Fever
Cutler
Madame Spy
David Bannister
A Woman for All Men
Barney
Last Hours Before Morning
Mr. Pace
Gidget Goes to Rome
Russell Lawrence
Night Monster
Dick Baldwin
Danger Woman
Professor Claude Ruppert
Murder or Mercy
Henry Balin
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Myron Brynk
Our Miss Brooks
Lawrence Nolan
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
Judge Oliver Haynes
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
Ed Murphy
Top Sergeant
Al Bennett
Keep 'Em Slugging
Jerry
The Norliss Tapes
Sanford T. Evans
Because You're Mine
Captain Burton Nordell Loring
The Last Song
Philip Brockhurst
The Murder That Wouldn't Die
Gen. Rocky Jensen
Eagle Squadron
Ramsey
Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
Caufield
The President's Mistress
Craig
Eyes of the Underworld
Edward Jason
The Morning After
Rudy King
The Fallbrook Story
Narrator
Wild Beauty
Dr. Dave Morrow
How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
Captain Dick
Cuban Pete
Roberts
TV Shows (26)
Dallas
Matt Devlin · 4 eps
The Love Boat
Slade Summerhill · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-O
Jonathan Cavel · 1 eps
Hawaii Five-O
Alex Kelsey · 1 eps
Love, American Style
2 eps
The Six Million Dollar Man
Dr. Stanley Bacon · 1 eps
Matlock
Erskine Tate · 1 eps
Green Acres
1 eps
Hotel
Jonathan Corry · 1 eps
Barnaby Jones
Jeremy Markham · 1 eps
Three's Company
1 eps
The F.B.I.
Mason Hammond · 1 eps
The Bionic Woman
2 eps
Here's Lucy
Ken Richards · 1 eps
The Rookies
1 eps
Vega$
1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
1 eps
Switch
Paul Lorimer · 1 eps
Switch
Salvensen · 1 eps
Ellery Queen
1 eps
The Mod Squad
2 eps
Gidget
Professor Russell Lawrence · 32 eps
The Paper Chase
1 eps
Private Secretary
104 eps
City of Angels
1 eps
Archer
1 eps