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Donald Woods
Donald Woods
91 years (Dec 2, 1906 – Mar 5, 1998)
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
76 Movies
10 TV Shows

Donald Woods

Donald Woods is a screen veteran of the old school known to audiences from a long list of titles rather than from one. The count stands at 86 titles, and the range inside it is wide. Among all the titles, 'True Grit' is the one that reached the widest audience. There is 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' as well. The first credits arrived long before the title most people know.
Donald Woods is a screen veteran of the old school known to audiences from a long list of titles rather than from one. The count stands at 86 titles, and the range inside it is wide. Among all the titles, 'True Grit' is the one that reached the widest audience. There is 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' as well. The first credits arrived long before the title most people know.
Movies
Latest Trailers
True Grit
Watch Trailer
True Grit
Full Filmography
True Grit
"Barlow"
★ 7.3
1969
Film
A Time to Sing
Vernon Carter
★ 6.5
1968
Film
Tammy and the Millionaire
John Brent
★ 6.5
1967
Film
Dimension 5
Kane
★ 5.3
1966
Film
Moment to Moment
Mr. Singer
★ 5.1
1966
Film
Tammy
John Brent · 26 episodes
★ 8.0
1965–
TV
Kissin' Cousins
General Alvin Donford
★ 4.6
1964
Film
Arrest and Trial
Chet Hayes · 1 episode
★ 8.2
1963–
TV
Five Minutes to Live
Kenneth Wilson
★ 5.5
1961
Film
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Donald Woods still alive?
Donald Woods passed away on March 5, 1998 at age 91.
What are the most famous roles of Donald Woods?
Donald Woods is best known for roles in True Grit, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 13 Ghosts.
How many movies has Donald Woods been in?
Over a 70-year career (since 1928), Donald Woods has appeared in 76 movies and 10 TV shows.
What was Donald Woods's first movie?
The career of Donald Woods began with Motorboat Mamas (1928).
What is Donald Woods's most recent movie or series?
Donald Woods's most recent release is Police Story, which premiered on March 20, 1973.
What TV shows has Donald Woods appeared in?
On television, Donald Woods has appeared in The Wild Wild West, Lassie, Ironside, Alias Smith and Jones.
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Donald Woods
Donald Woods
1906-12-02 · Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

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.

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