Donald Woods
Acting
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.
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
as Capt. Jackson
Age 46 (now 91)
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Perry Mason
Age 30 (now 91)
Charlie Chan on Broadway
as Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin
Age 30 (now 91)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
as Capt. Jackson
Age 46 (now 91)
The Time, The Place and The Girl
as Martin Drew
Age 40 (now 91)
March On, America!
as Francis Scott Key (archive footage) (uncredited)
Age 35 (now 91)
I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island
as Joel Grant / Joseph Elmer
Age 34 (now 91)
Mexican Spitfire Out West
as Dennis 'Denny' Lindsay
Age 33 (now 91)
Charlie Chan on Broadway
as Speed Patten, Reporter New York Bulletin
Age 30 (now 91)
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Perry Mason
Age 30 (now 91)
Things You Never See on the Screen
as Self
Age 28 (now 91)
General Electric Theater
as Norman Frost Bennett
Age 46 (now 91)
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Kirby Sinclair
Age 44 (now 91)
Craig Kennedy, Criminologist
as Craig Kennedy
Age 44 (now 91)
Gathering insights...
Also Known As
Ralph Lewis Zink
IMDB
nm0940579