About

Known credits:
95
Birthday:
1906-12-02
Place of birth:
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Website:
N/A

Donald Woods

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald Woods (born Ralph Lewis Zink, December 2, 1906 – March 5, 1998) was a Canadian-American film and television actor whose career in Hollywood spanned six decades.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Woods moved with his family to California and was raised in Burbank. A son of William and Margaret Zink, Presbyterians of German descent. His younger brother, Clarence Russell Zink, also became an actor (Russ Conway).

Woods graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and made his film debut in 1928. His screen career was spent mostly in B movies, for example as lawyer Perry Mason in the 1937 film The Case of the Stuttering Bishop. He also occasionally played major roles in bigger feature films like A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Watch on the Rhine (1943), The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944), and Roughly Speaking (1945).

Of considerable importance to his acting career were several seasons as leading man with the Elitch Gardens Theatre Company in Denver, Colorado, where he performed in 1932, 1933, 1939, 1941, 1947, and 1948.

In the early days of television, Woods starred as the title character in the 1951 syndicated TV series Craig Kennedy, Criminologist, and he was the host of Damon Runyon Theater on CBS-TV. He played himself on the dramatic series Hotel Cosmopolitan, also on CBS, and he was one of three hosts of The Orchid Award on ABC-TV. He portrayed Walter Manning on Portia Faces Life on CBS.

He also appeared in such anthology series as The Philco Television Playhouse, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, The United States Steel Hour, Crossroads, and General Electric Theater. On April 11, 1961, Woods appeared as "Profesor Landfield" in the episode "Two for the Gallows" on NBC's Laramie western series. Series character Slim Sherman (John Smith) is hired under false pretenses to take Landfield into the Badlands to seek gold. Landfield, however, is really Morgan Bennett, a member of the former Henry Plummer gang who has escaped from prison. Slim has no idea that Lanfield is seeking the loot that his gang had hidden away. Series character Jess Harper (Robert Fuller), Pete Dixon, played by Warren Oates, and Pete's younger brother soon come to Slim's aid. The title stems from the talk that the undisciplined Dixon brothers might eventually wind up on a hangman's noose.

Woods later was a regular in the role of John Brent on the short-lived series Tammy and made guest appearances on Bat Masterson, Wagon Train, Ben Casey, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Stoney Burke, Bourbon Street Beat, Bonanza, Coronet Blue, Ironside, Alias Smith and Jones, The Wild Wild West and Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, among many others before retiring from acting in 1976.

Besides his film career, he also worked as a successful real estate broker in Palm Springs where he lived with his wife, childhood sweetheart Josephine Van der Horck. They were married from 1933 until his death and had two children, Linda and Conrad. He was interred at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.

Known for

Acting

1969 True Grit Actor "Barlow" 67
Fair
1969 Istanbul Express Actor Shepherd 58
Average
1968 A Time to Sing Actor Vernon Carter N/A
N/A
1967 Tammy and the Millionaire Actor John Brent 58
Average
1966 Dimension 5 Actor Kane 58
Average
1966 Moment to Moment Actor Mr. Singer 58
Average
1965 Tammy Actor 69
Fair
1964 Kissin' Cousins Actor General Alvin Donford 58
Average
1961 Five Minutes to Live Actor Kenneth Wilson 58
Average
1960 13 Ghosts Actor Cyrus Zorba 58
Average
1960 I'll Give My Life Actor 59
Average
1957 Hotel Cosmopolitan Actor N/A
N/A
1955 A Wind from the South Actor Robert 59
Average
1955 Damon Runyon Theater Actor N/A
N/A
1954 Portia Faces Life Actor 69
Fair
1953 The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms Actor Capt. Jackson 60
Fair
1953 Born to the Saddle Actor Matt Daggett 58
Average
1953 The Studebaker Story Actor John Mohler Studebaker N/A
N/A
1952 Tall, Dark and Dead Actor Craig Kennedy N/A
N/A
1951 All That I Have Actor Pastor William Goodwin 59
Average
1951 Craig Kennedy, Criminologist Actor Craig Kennedy N/A
N/A
1950 Mr. Music Actor Tippy Carpenter 59
Average
1950 The Lost Volcano Actor Paul Gordon 58
Average
1950 Johnny One-Eye Actor Vet 58
Average
1949 Barbary Pirate Actor Maj. Tom Blake 58
Average
1949 Free For All Actor Roger Abernathy 59
Average
1949 Scene of the Crime Actor Bob Herkimer 58
Average
1949 Daughter of the West Actor Commissioner Ralph C. Connors N/A
N/A
1947 The Return of Rin Tin Tin Actor Father Matthew 58
Average
1947 Stepchild Actor Ken Bullock N/A
N/A
1947 Bells of San Fernando Actor Michael 'Gringo' O'Brien 58
Average
1946 The Time, The Place and The Girl Actor Martin Drew 59
Average
1946 Never Say Goodbye Actor Rex DeVallon 58
Average
1946 Goodbye, Weeds Actor Henry N/A
N/A
1946 Night and Day Actor Ward Blackburn 58
Average
1945 Star in the Night Actor Hitchhiker 59
Average
1945 Wonder Man Actor Monte Rossen 59
Average
1945 Roughly Speaking Actor Rodney Crane 59
Average
1944 Hollywood Canteen Actor Self 59
Average
1944 Enemy of Women Actor Dr. Hans Traeger, MD 58
Average
1944 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Actor Brother Juniper 58
Average
1943 Hi'ya, Sailor Actor Bob Jackson 59
Average
1943 So's Your Uncle Actor Steve Curtis aka Uncle John 58
Average
1943 Watch on the Rhine Actor David Farrelly 59
Average
1943 Corregidor Actor Dr. Michael 59
Average
1942 The Gay Sisters Actor Penn Sutherland Gaylord 58
Average
1942 March On, America! Actor Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited) 59
Average
1942 Thru Different Eyes Actor Ted Farnsworth N/A
N/A
1941 I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island Actor Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer N/A
N/A
1941 Bachelor Daddy Actor Edward Smith N/A
N/A
1941 Sky Raiders Actor Captain Bob Dayton 59
Average
1940 Mexican Spitfire Out West Actor Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay 58
Average
1940 Young America Flies Actor John Woodward N/A
N/A
1940 Love, Honor and Oh-Baby! Actor Brian McGrath N/A
N/A
1940 If I Had My Way Actor Fred Johnson 59
Average
1940 Forgotten Girls Actor Dan Donahue 58
Average
1940 City of Chance Actor Steve Walker 58
Average
1940 Mexican Spitfire Actor Dennis Lindsay 58
Average
1939 Heritage of the Desert Actor John Abbott 59
Average
1939 The Girl from Mexico Actor Dennis Lindsay 58
Average
1939 Beauty for the Asking Actor Jeffrey Martin 59
Average
1938 Danger on the Air Actor Benjamin Butts 59
Average
1938 Romance on the Run Actor Barry Drake N/A
N/A
1938 The Black Doll Actor Nick Halstead 59
Average
1937 Big Town Girl Actor Mark Tracey 59
Average
1937 Charlie Chan on Broadway Actor Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin 59
Average
1937 Talent Scout Actor Steve Stewart 59
Average
1937 The Case of the Stuttering Bishop Actor Perry Mason 59
Average
1937 Sea Devils Actor Steve Webb 58
Average
1937 Once a Doctor Actor Steven Brace 59
Average
1936 Breakdowns of 1936 Actor Self N/A
N/A
1936 Isle of Fury Actor Eric Blake 58
Average
1936 Anthony Adverse Actor Vincent Nolte 58
Average
1936 A Son Comes Home Actor Denny 58
Average
1936 The Song of a Nation Actor Francis Scott Key 59
Average
1936 The White Angel Actor Charles Cooper 59
Average
1936 The Making of a Great Motion Picture Actor 59
Average
1936 Road Gang Actor James 'Jim' Larrabie 59
Average
1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur Actor Dr. Jean Martel 59
Average
1935 A Dream Comes True Actor Himself (uncredited) 59
Average
1935 A Tale of Two Cities Actor Charles Darnay 59
Average
1935 Things You Never See on the Screen Actor Self 59
Average
1935 Frisco Kid Actor Charles Ford 59
Average
1935 Stranded Actor John Wesley 59
Average
1935 The Case of the Curious Bride Actor Carl 58
Average
1935 The Florentine Dagger Actor Juan Cesare 59
Average
1934 Sweet Adeline Actor Sid Barnett 59
Average
1934 She Was a Lady Actor Tommy Traill N/A
N/A
1934 Charlie Chan's Courage Actor Bob Crawford 59
Average
1934 Fog Over Frisco Actor Tony Sterling 58
Average
1934 Merry Wives of Reno Actor Frank 58
Average
1934 Hollywood Newsreel Actor Himself 59
Average
1934 As the Earth Turns Actor Stan 58
Average
1928 Motorboat Mamas Actor Yacht Club Patron N/A
N/A
1928 Motorboat Mamas Actor Yacht Club Patron (uncredited) N/A
N/A