Donald Woods

Birthday: 1906-12-02
Deathday: 1998-03-05
Birthplace: Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

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.

Credits

Year Title Character
1969-06-11 True Grit "Barlow"
1969-03-07 Istanbul Express Shepherd
1968-08-15 A Time to Sing Vernon Carter
1967-05-01 Tammy and the Millionaire John Brent
1966-10-01 Dimension 5 Kane
1966-01-27 Moment to Moment Mr. Singer
1964-03-06 Kissin' Cousins General Alvin Donford
1961-12-07 Five Minutes to Live Kenneth Wilson
1960-07-18 13 Ghosts Cyrus Zorba
1960-02-03 I'll Give My Life
1955-09-14 A Wind from the South Robert
1953-06-13 The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms Capt. Jackson
1953-03-15 Born to the Saddle Matt Daggett
1953-01-01 The Studebaker Story John Mohler Studebaker
1952-01-01 Tall, Dark and Dead Craig Kennedy
1951-10-01 All That I Have Pastor William Goodwin
1950-12-08 Mr. Music Tippy Carpenter
1950-06-25 The Lost Volcano Paul Gordon
1950-05-05 Johnny One-Eye Vet
1949-11-10 Barbary Pirate Maj. Tom Blake
1949-11-01 Free For All Roger Abernathy
1949-07-28 Scene of the Crime Bob Herkimer
1949-02-15 Daughter of the West Commissioner Ralph C. Connors
1947-11-01 The Return of Rin Tin Tin Father Matthew
1947-06-07 Stepchild Ken Bullock
1947-03-01 Bells of San Fernando Michael 'Gringo' O'Brien
1946-12-26 The Time, The Place and The Girl Martin Drew
1946-11-09 Never Say Goodbye Rex DeVallon
1946-10-30 Goodbye, Weeds Henry
1946-07-02 Night and Day Ward Blackburn
1945-10-13 Star in the Night Hitchhiker
1945-06-08 Wonder Man Monte Rossen
1945-01-31 Roughly Speaking Rodney Crane
1944-11-10 Enemy of Women Dr. Hans Traeger, MD
1944-02-11 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Brother Juniper
1943-10-08 Hi'ya, Sailor Bob Jackson
1943-09-01 So's Your Uncle Steve Curtis aka Uncle John
1943-08-27 Watch on the Rhine David Farrelly
1943-03-29 Corregidor Dr. Michael
1942-08-01 The Gay Sisters Penn Sutherland Gaylord
1942-06-19 Thru Different Eyes Ted Farnsworth
1941-08-04 I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer
1941-06-04 Bachelor Daddy Edward Smith
1941-04-08 Sky Raiders Captain Bob Dayton
1940-10-29 Mexican Spitfire Out West Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay
1940-07-13 Young America Flies John Woodward
1940-06-07 Love, Honor and Oh-Baby! Brian McGrath
1940-05-05 If I Had My Way Fred Johnson
1940-03-15 Forgotten Girls Dan Donahue
1940-01-13 City of Chance Steve Walker
1940-01-12 Mexican Spitfire Dennis Lindsay
1939-06-23 Heritage of the Desert John Abbott
1939-06-01 The Girl from Mexico Dennis Lindsay
1939-02-24 Beauty for the Asking Jeffrey Martin
1938-06-30 Danger on the Air Benjamin Butts
1938-05-11 Romance on the Run Barry Drake
1938-01-31 The Black Doll Nick Halstead
1937-12-03 Big Town Girl Mark Tracey
1937-09-22 Charlie Chan on Broadway Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin
1937-07-24 Talent Scout Steve Stewart
1937-06-08 The Case of the Stuttering Bishop Perry Mason
1937-02-19 Sea Devils Steve Webb
1937-01-23 Once a Doctor Steven Brace
1936-10-10 Isle of Fury Eric Blake
1936-08-26 Anthony Adverse Vincent Nolte
1936-07-31 A Son Comes Home Denny
1936-07-04 The Song of a Nation Francis Scott Key
1936-06-25 The White Angel Charles Cooper
1936-04-15 The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936-03-28 Road Gang James 'Jim' Larrabie
1936-02-22 The Story of Louis Pasteur Dr. Jean Martel
1935-12-25 A Tale of Two Cities Charles Darnay
1935-11-30 Frisco Kid Charles Ford
1935-06-29 Stranded John Wesley
1935-04-13 The Case of the Curious Bride Carl
1935-03-30 The Florentine Dagger Juan Cesare
1934-12-29 Sweet Adeline Sid Barnett
1934-08-22 She Was a Lady Tommy Traill
1934-07-06 Charlie Chan's Courage Bob Crawford
1934-06-02 Fog Over Frisco Tony Sterling
1934-04-18 Merry Wives of Reno Frank
1934-02-14 As the Earth Turns Stan
1928-09-30 Motorboat Mamas Yacht Club Patron (uncredited)