Donald Woods

Donald Woods

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.

Acting

1973

1969

1967

Ironside
Tv

Unknown

1966

1964

Kissin' Cousins
Movie

General Alvin Donford

1962

1961

1961

1960

Thriller
Tv

Dr. John Carmody

1960

13 Ghosts
Movie

Cyrus Zorba

1959

The Rebel
Tv

Sam Moss

1959

1958

Bat Masterson
Tv

Roger Purcell

1954

Lassie
Tv

Unknown

1949

Barbary Pirate
Movie

Maj. Tom Blake

1949

1949

Daughter of the West
Movie

Commissioner Ralph C. Connors

1949

Daughter of the West
Movie

Commissioner Ralph C. Connors

1949

Daughter of the West
Movie

Commissioner Ralph C. Connors

1949

Daughter of the West
Movie

Commissioner Ralph C. Connors

1946

1946

Night and Day
Movie

Ward Blackburn

1945

Wonder Man
Movie

Monte Rossen

1945

1943

1942

The Gay Sisters
Movie

Penn Sutherland Gaylord

1942

March On, America!
Movie

Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited)

1940

1939

1938

The Black Doll
Movie

Nick Halstead

1937

Charlie Chan on Broadway
Movie

Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin

1937

Talent Scout
Movie

Steve Stewart

1937

Once a Doctor
Movie

Steven Brace

1936

1936

1936

The Song of a Nation
Movie

Francis Scott Key

1936

The White Angel
Movie

Charles Cooper

1936

Road Gang
Movie

James 'Jim' Larrabie

1935

A Dream Comes True
Movie

Himself (uncredited)

1935

1935

Frisco Kid
Movie

Charles Ford

1935

Stranded
Movie

John Wesley

1934

1934

Infos

Full Name
Donald Woods
Gender
Male
Date of Birth
12/2/1906
Date of Death
3/5/1998
Also Known As

Ralph Lewis Zink