Donald Woods
Born
December 2, 1906
Died
March 5, 1998 (91 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
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.
Known For
Police Story
(1 episode)
1973
The Sandy Duncan Show
(1 episode)
1972
Alias Smith and Jones
(1 episode)
1971
True Grit
"Barlow"
1969
Istanbul Express
Shepherd
1969
A Time to Sing
Vernon Carter
1968
Hondo
(1 episode)
1967
Tammy and the Millionaire
John Brent
1967
Ironside
(1 episode)
1967
Dimension 5
Kane
1966
Felony Squad
(1 episode)
1966
Moment to Moment
Mr. Singer
1966
The Wild Wild West
(1 episode)
1965
Tammy
John Brent · (26 episodes)
1965
Kissin' Cousins
General Alvin Donford
1964
Stoney Burke
(1 episode)
1962
Sam Benedict
(1 episode)
1962
Five Minutes to Live
Kenneth Wilson
1961
Ben Casey
(1 episode)
1961
Thriller
Dr. John Carmody · (1 episode)
1960
13 Ghosts
Cyrus Zorba
1960
I'll Give My Life
1960
Bourbon Street Beat
(1 episode)
1959
The Rebel
Sam Moss · (1 episode)
1959
Men Into Space
(1 episode)
1959
Tightrope
(1 episode)
1959
77 Sunset Strip
(2 episodes)
1958
Bat Masterson
Roger Purcell · (1 episode)
1958
Wagon Train
Philip Ayers · (1 episode)
1957
Hotel Cosmopolitan
(167 episodes)
1957
A Wind from the South
Robert
1955
Damon Runyon Theater
(39 episodes)
1955
The Millionaire
Cobb Marley · (1 episode)
1955
Lassie
(1 episode)
1954
Portia Faces Life
(324 episodes)
1954
Inner Sanctum
(1 episode)
1954
The United States Steel Hour
(1 episode)
1953
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Capt. Jackson
1953
Born to the Saddle
Matt Daggett
1953
General Electric Theater
(1 episode)
1953
General Electric Theater
Norman Frost Bennett · (1 episode)
1953
The Studebaker Story
John Mohler Studebaker
1953
Tall, Dark and Dead
Craig Kennedy
1952
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Kirby Sinclair · (1 episode)
1951
All That I Have
Pastor William Goodwin
1951
Craig Kennedy, Criminologist
Craig Kennedy · (26 episodes)
1951
Mr. Music
Tippy Carpenter
1950
The Lost Volcano
Paul Gordon
1950
Johnny One-Eye
Vet
1950
Robert Montgomery Presents
(3 episodes)
1950
Barbary Pirate
Maj. Tom Blake
1949
Free For All
Roger Abernathy
1949
Scene of the Crime
Bob Herkimer
1949
Lights Out
(1 episode)
1949
Daughter of the West
Commissioner Ralph C. Connors
1949
The Philco Television Playhouse
(1 episode)
1948
The Return of Rin Tin Tin
Father Matthew
1947
Stepchild
Ken Bullock
1947
Bells of San Fernando
Michael 'Gringo' O'Brien
1947
The Time, The Place and The Girl
Martin Drew
1946
Never Say Goodbye
Rex DeVallon
1946
Goodbye, Weeds
Henry
1946
Night and Day
Ward Blackburn
1946
Star in the Night
Hitchhiker
1945
Wonder Man
Monte Rossen
1945
Roughly Speaking
Rodney Crane
1945
Hollywood Canteen
Self
1944
Enemy of Women
Dr. Hans Traeger, MD
1944
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Brother Juniper
1944
Hi'ya, Sailor
Bob Jackson
1943
So's Your Uncle
Steve Curtis aka Uncle John
1943
Watch on the Rhine
David Farrelly
1943
Corregidor
Dr. Michael
1943
The Gay Sisters
Penn Sutherland Gaylord
1942
March On, America!
Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited)
1942
Thru Different Eyes
Ted Farnsworth
1942
I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island
Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer
1941
Bachelor Daddy
Edward Smith
1941
Sky Raiders
Captain Bob Dayton
1941
Mexican Spitfire Out West
Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay
1940
Young America Flies
John Woodward
1940
Love, Honor and Oh-Baby!
Brian McGrath
1940
If I Had My Way
Fred Johnson
1940
Forgotten Girls
Dan Donahue
1940
City of Chance
Steve Walker
1940
Mexican Spitfire
Dennis Lindsay
1940
Heritage of the Desert
John Abbott
1939
The Girl from Mexico
Dennis Lindsay
1939
Beauty for the Asking
Jeffrey Martin
1939
Danger on the Air
Benjamin Butts
1938
Romance on the Run
Barry Drake
1938
The Black Doll
Nick Halstead
1938
Big Town Girl
Mark Tracey
1937
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin
1937
Talent Scout
Steve Stewart
1937
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
Perry Mason
1937
Sea Devils
Steve Webb
1937
Once a Doctor
Steven Brace
1937
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
1936
Isle of Fury
Eric Blake
1936
Anthony Adverse
Vincent Nolte
1936
A Son Comes Home
Denny
1936
The Song of a Nation
Francis Scott Key
1936
The White Angel
Charles Cooper
1936
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
Road Gang
James 'Jim' Larrabie
1936
The Story of Louis Pasteur
Dr. Jean Martel
1936
A Dream Comes True
Himself (uncredited)
1935
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Darnay
1935
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
1935
Frisco Kid
Charles Ford
1935
Stranded
John Wesley
1935
The Case of the Curious Bride
Carl
1935
The Florentine Dagger
Juan Cesare
1935
Sweet Adeline
Sid Barnett
1934
She Was a Lady
Tommy Traill
1934
Charlie Chan's Courage
Bob Crawford
1934
Fog Over Frisco
Tony Sterling
1934
Merry Wives of Reno
Frank
1934
Hollywood Newsreel
Himself
1934
As the Earth Turns
Stan
1934
Motorboat Mamas
Yacht Club Patron (uncredited)
1928
Motorboat Mamas
Yacht Club Patron
1928