Don Porter
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.
74 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 74
Dallas
1978
The Love Boat
1977
Love, American Style
1969
Hawaii Five-O
1968
The Six Million Dollar Man
1974
Hotel
1982
Matlock
1986
The F.B.I.
1965
Barnaby Jones
1973
Green Acres
1965
The Rookies
1972
Three's Company
1977
Here's Lucy
1968
Vega$
1978
Switch
1975
The Bionic Woman
1976
The Mod Squad
1968
Judd, for the Defense
1967
Ellery Queen
1975
The Paper Chase
1978
Gidget
1965
Vacation Playhouse
1963
City of Angels
1976
Private Secretary
1953
Archer
1975
Tropic of Desire
1979
40 Carats
1973
Eagle Squadron
1942
Desk Set
1957
White Line Fever
1975
Mame
1974
711 Ocean Drive
1950
The Savage
1952
The Racket
1951
The Candidate
1972
Live a Little, Love a Little
1968
Night Monster
1942
The Last Song
1980
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
1944
The Turning Point
1952
Bachelor in Paradise
1961
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
1975
The Norliss Tapes
1973
Gidget Goes to Rome
1963
The President's Mistress
1978
Keep 'Em Slugging
1943
Buck Privates Come Home
1947
Who Done It?
1942
Last Hours Before Morning
1975
The Murder That Wouldn't Die
1980
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950
Youngblood Hawke
1964
My Friend Irma Goes West
1950
Madame Spy
1942
A Woman for All Men
1975
Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
1974
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
1980
She-Wolf of London
1946
Cripple Creek
1952
Our Miss Brooks
1956
Eyes of the Underworld
1942
Because You're Mine
1952
Cuban Pete
1946
Wild Beauty
1946
Danger Woman
1946
Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
1977
Murder or Mercy
1974
Reconnaissance Pilot
1943
The Morning After
1974
How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
1944
Mystery of the White Room
1939
Top Sergeant
1942
Interview with Pontius Pilate
1980
The Fallbrook Story
1952