Donald Woods
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 2, 1906
- Died
- March 5, 1998
- Birthplace
- Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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.
Filmography
True Grit 1969
as "Barlow"
Istanbul Express 1969
as Shepherd
A Time to Sing 1968
as Vernon Carter
Tammy and the Millionaire 1967
as John Brent
Dimension 5 1966
as Kane
Moment to Moment 1966
as Mr. Singer
Kissin' Cousins 1964
as General Alvin Donford
Five Minutes to Live 1961
as Kenneth Wilson
13 Ghosts 1960
as Cyrus Zorba
I'll Give My Life 1960
Actor
A Wind from the South 1955
as Robert
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms 1953
as Capt. Jackson
Born to the Saddle 1953
as Matt Daggett
The Studebaker Story 1953
as John Mohler Studebaker
- Tall, Dark and Dead
Tall, Dark and Dead 1952
as Craig Kennedy
All That I Have 1951
as Pastor William Goodwin
Mr. Music 1950
as Tippy Carpenter
The Lost Volcano 1950
as Paul Gordon
Johnny One-Eye 1950
as Vet
Barbary Pirate 1949
as Maj. Tom Blake
Free For All 1949
as Roger Abernathy
Scene of the Crime 1949
as Bob Herkimer
Daughter of the West 1949
as Commissioner Ralph C. Connors
The Return of Rin Tin Tin 1947
as Father Matthew
Stepchild 1947
as Ken Bullock
Bells of San Fernando 1947
as Michael 'Gringo' O'Brien
The Time, The Place and The Girl 1946
as Martin Drew
Never Say Goodbye 1946
as Rex DeVallon
Goodbye, Weeds 1946
as Henry
Night and Day 1946
as Ward Blackburn
Star in the Night 1945
as Hitchhiker
Wonder Man 1945
as Monte Rossen
Roughly Speaking 1945
as Rodney Crane
Hollywood Canteen 1944
as Self
Enemy of Women 1944
as Dr. Hans Traeger, MD
The Bridge of San Luis Rey 1944
as Brother Juniper
Hi'ya, Sailor 1943
as Bob Jackson
So's Your Uncle 1943
as Steve Curtis aka Uncle John
Watch on the Rhine 1943
as David Farrelly
Corregidor 1943
as Dr. Michael
The Gay Sisters 1942
as Penn Sutherland Gaylord
March On, America! 1942
as Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited)
Thru Different Eyes 1942
as Ted Farnsworth
I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island 1941
as Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer
Bachelor Daddy 1941
as Edward Smith
Sky Raiders 1941
as Captain Bob Dayton
Mexican Spitfire Out West 1940
as Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay
Young America Flies 1940
as John Woodward
Love, Honor and Oh-Baby! 1940
as Brian McGrath
If I Had My Way 1940
as Fred Johnson
Forgotten Girls 1940
as Dan Donahue
City of Chance 1940
as Steve Walker
Mexican Spitfire 1940
as Dennis Lindsay
Heritage of the Desert 1939
as John Abbott
The Girl from Mexico 1939
as Dennis Lindsay
Beauty for the Asking 1939
as Jeffrey Martin
Danger on the Air 1938
as Benjamin Butts
Romance on the Run 1938
as Barry Drake
The Black Doll 1938
as Nick Halstead
Big Town Girl 1937
as Mark Tracey
Charlie Chan on Broadway 1937
as Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin
Talent Scout 1937
as Steve Stewart
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop 1937
as Perry Mason
Sea Devils 1937
as Steve Webb
Once a Doctor 1937
as Steven Brace
Breakdowns of 1936 1936
as Self
Isle of Fury 1936
as Eric Blake
Anthony Adverse 1936
as Vincent Nolte
A Son Comes Home 1936
as Denny
- The Song of a Nation
The Song of a Nation 1936
as Francis Scott Key
The White Angel 1936
as Charles Cooper
The Making of a Great Motion Picture 1936
Actor
Road Gang 1936
as James 'Jim' Larrabie
The Story of Louis Pasteur 1936
as Dr. Jean Martel
A Dream Comes True 1935
as Himself (uncredited)
A Tale of Two Cities 1935
as Charles Darnay
Things You Never See on the Screen 1935
as Self
Frisco Kid 1935
as Charles Ford
Stranded 1935
as John Wesley
The Case of the Curious Bride 1935
as Carl
The Florentine Dagger 1935
as Juan Cesare
Sweet Adeline 1934
as Sid Barnett
She Was a Lady 1934
as Tommy Traill
Charlie Chan's Courage 1934
as Bob Crawford
Fog Over Frisco 1934
as Tony Sterling
Merry Wives of Reno 1934
as Frank
Hollywood Newsreel 1934
as Himself
As the Earth Turns 1934
as Stan
Motorboat Mamas 1928
as Yacht Club Patron (uncredited), as Yacht Club Patron
Credits from TMDB.