
Don Porter
Biography
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.
Acting (48 movies)

The Candidate
1972

The Racket
1951

Buck Privates Come Home
1947

White Line Fever
1975

711 Ocean Drive
1950

The Turning Point
1952

She-Wolf of London
1946

Who Done It?
1942

The Norliss Tapes
1973

Live a Little, Love a Little
1968

Bachelor in Paradise
1961

Danger Woman
1946

Our Miss Brooks
1956

Eyes of the Underworld
1942

Night Monster
1942

Youngblood Hawke
1964

Resisting Enemy Interrogation
1944

Desk Set
1957

Cripple Creek
1952

The Morning After
1974

Cuban Pete
1946

The Savage
1952

Last Hours Before Morning
1975

The Murder That Wouldn't Die
1980

The Legend of Lizzie Borden
1975

Murder or Mercy
1974

Mame
1974

The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
1980

Wild Beauty
1946

Eagle Squadron
1942

Top Sergeant
1942

Tropic of Desire
1979

Madame Spy
1942

The President's Mistress
1978

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950

Keep 'Em Slugging
1943

My Friend Irma Goes West
1950

A Woman for All Men
1975

40 Carats
1973

Mystery of the White Room
1939

Gidget Goes to Rome
1963

Reconnaissance Pilot
1943

How to Fly the B-26 Airplane
1944

The Last Song
1980

Because You're Mine
1952

The Fallbrook Story
1952

Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.
1977

Happy Anniversary and Goodbye
1974
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