Donald Woods

Biography

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

Capt. Jackson

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

Cyrus Zorba

13 Ghosts

Juan Cesare

The Florentine Dagger

Rex DeVallon

Never Say Goodbye

Vincent Nolte

Anthony Adverse

Kenneth Wilson

Five Minutes to Live

Sid Barnett

Sweet Adeline

Steve Walker

City of Chance

Bob Herkimer

Scene of the Crime

Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin

Charlie Chan on Broadway

Self

Hollywood Canteen

"Barlow"

True Grit

Charles Darnay

A Tale of Two Cities

Yacht Club Patron (uncredited)

Motorboat Mamas

Tony Sterling

Fog Over Frisco

Vet

Johnny One-Eye

Kane

Dimension 5

Dr. Jean Martel

The Story of Louis Pasteur

Frank

Merry Wives of Reno

Eric Blake

Isle of Fury

Jeffrey Martin

Beauty for the Asking

Tippy Carpenter

Mr. Music

Paul Gordon

The Lost Volcano

Dennis Lindsay

Mexican Spitfire

Brother Juniper

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Michael 'Gringo' O'Brien

Bells of San Fernando

Father Matthew

The Return of Rin Tin Tin

John Mohler Studebaker

The Studebaker Story

Dan Donahue

Forgotten Girls

Rodney Crane

Roughly Speaking

Perry Mason

The Case of the Stuttering Bishop

Charles Ford

Frisco Kid

Dr. Hans Traeger, MD

Enemy of Women

Steve Webb

Sea Devils

John Wesley

Stranded

Steve Stewart

Talent Scout

Stan

As the Earth Turns

James 'Jim' Larrabie

Road Gang

Denny

A Son Comes Home

Vernon Carter

A Time to Sing

Captain Bob Dayton

Sky Raiders

Dennis Lindsay

The Girl from Mexico

Brian McGrath

Love, Honor and Oh-Baby!

Bob Crawford

Charlie Chan's Courage

Barry Drake

Romance on the Run

Benjamin Butts

Danger on the Air

Nick Halstead

The Black Doll

Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay

Mexican Spitfire Out West

Craig Kennedy

Tall, Dark and Dead

Charles Cooper

The White Angel

Roger Abernathy

Free For All

Monte Rossen

Wonder Man

David Farrelly

Watch on the Rhine

Ken Bullock

Stepchild

Carl

The Case of the Curious Bride

John Abbott

Heritage of the Desert

Commissioner Ralph C. Connors

Daughter of the West

Matt Daggett

Born to the Saddle

John Brent

Tammy and the Millionaire

Himself

Hollywood Newsreel

Hitchhiker

Star in the Night

Steven Brace

Once a Doctor

Mark Tracey

Big Town Girl

Bob Jackson

Hi'ya, Sailor

Dr. Michael

Corregidor

Ted Farnsworth

Thru Different Eyes

Self

Breakdowns of 1936

Penn Sutherland Gaylord

The Gay Sisters

Robert

A Wind from the South

Francis Scott Key

The Song of a Nation

Henry

Goodbye, Weeds

Martin Drew

The Time, The Place and The Girl

General Alvin Donford

Kissin' Cousins

Shepherd

Istanbul Express

Himself (uncredited)

A Dream Comes True

Self

Things You Never See on the Screen

The Making of a Great Motion Picture

Pastor William Goodwin

All That I Have

Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer

I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island

Steve Curtis aka Uncle John

So's Your Uncle

Mr. Singer

Moment to Moment

Fred Johnson

If I Had My Way

John Woodward

Young America Flies

Edward Smith

Bachelor Daddy

Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited)

March On, America!

Maj. Tom Blake

Barbary Pirate

Ward Blackburn

Night and Day

I'll Give My Life

Tommy Traill

She Was a Lady

Yacht Club Patron

Motorboat Mamas