Don Porter profile
Actor profile

Don Porter

24th September 1912 Miami, Oklahoma, USA 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.

49 Movies 25 TV Shows 74 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Mame poster
Mame 7th March 1974 as Mr. Upson
Desk Set poster
Desk Set 2nd August 1957 as Don the Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Who Done It? poster
Who Done It? 30th October 1942 as 'Murder at Midnight' program manager
Matlock poster
Matlock 3rd March 1986 as Erskine Tate
Dallas poster
Dallas 2nd April 1978 as Matt Devlin
Switch poster
Switch 9th September 1975 as Salvensen
Gidget poster
Gidget 15th September 1965 as Professor Russell Lawrence