DONALD WOODS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Donald Woods was born on December 2nd, 1906 in Brandon, Manitoba in Canada with the birth name Ralph L. Zink.  As a young boy his family relocated to California and he was raised in Burbank.  After high school he earned his college degree from the University of California at Berkeley and then decided to embark on a career as an actor.

His career in the industry would last over seventy five years and he appeared in over 150 television and film roles.  He began with appearing in a number of western films with his debut in 1928 in, "Motorboat Mammas" starring Billy Bevan, Alma Bennett, Vernon Dent and Carmelita Geraghty.

Some of his more prominent film roles included, "A Tale of Two Cities" (1935), "Anthony Adverse" (1936) starring Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Anita Louise, Claude Rains, Louis Hayward, Akim Tamiroff, Steffi Duna and Gale Sondergaard, "Watch on the Rhine" (1943) starring alongside Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lucille Watson, Beulah Bondi and George Coulouris, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (1944) also starring Lynn Bari, Francis Lederer, Akim Tamiroff, Alla Nazimova and Louis Calhern, "Wonder Man" (1945) starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Steve Cochran, Edward Brophy, Otto Kruger, Richard Lane, Natalie Schafer, Vera Ellen, Allen Jenkins, Huntz Hall, Eddie Acuff and Byron Foulger, "Mr. Music" (1950) starring Bing Crosby, Nancy Olson, Charles Coburn, Ruth Hussey, Robert Stack, Tom Ewell, Ida Moore, Charles Kemper, Peggy Lee, Marge and Gower Champion and Groucho Marx, "All That I Have" (1951) with Housley Stevenson Sr. and Onslow Stevens, "Born to the Saddle" (1953) co-starring Chuck Courtney, Leif Erickson, Rand Brooks, Glenn Strange, Dan White and Dolores Prest, "I'll Give You My Life" (1960), " Five Minutes to Live " aka " Door-to-Door Maniac " (1961) starring Johnny Cash, Vic Tayback, Merle Travis, Pamela Mason, Ron Howard and Cay Forrester, "Kissin' Cousins" (1964) starring Elvis Presley, Yvonne Craig, Arthur O'Connell, Glenda Farrell, Jack Albertson, Teri Garr, Kent McCord, Maureen Reagan, Cynthia Pepper and Tommy Farrell and "True Grit" (1969) starring John Wayne, his only Academy Award, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Jeff Corey, Dennis Hopper, John Fielder and Strother Martin.

Along with working as a well known film actor he also appeared on a variety of television series and later hosted two television shows, "The Orchid Award" (1953) and "Hotel Cosmopolitan" (1957).

He added numerous television credits to his resume, some of which included, "Wagon Train", "Tammy", "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "The United States Steel Hour", "Lights Out", "General Electric Theater", "Ben Casey", "Inner Sanctum", "77 Sunset Strip", "Bat Masterson", "Hawaiian Eye", "Bonanza", "Checkmate", "Wagon Train", "Ironside", "Thriller" and "Alias Smith and Jones" among many others.

In addition he had a long career as a stage actor working as a lead actor at the Elite Gardens Theatre Company located in Denver, Colorado.     

Donald Woods married only once to Josephine Vander Horck in 1927 and the couple had two children together and remained married until she passed away in 1972.  He did not re-marry and continued to work as a real estate broker in Palm Springs, California until he passed away at the age of ninety one on March 5th, 1998. 

Filmography

1984         The Mississippi
1976         Sweet Revenge
1971-1974     Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
1973         Police Story
1973         Love Story 
1972         The Sandy Duncan Show 
1972         Alias Smith and Jones
1971         Ironside 
1971         The D.A.
1969         Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1969         True Grit
1968         Istanbul Express
1968         Lassie
1968         Felony Squad
1968         A Time to Sing
1967         Hondo 
1966-1967     The Wild Wild West 
1967         Tammy and the Millionaire
1967         Coronet Blue
1967         Bonanza 
1966         Dimension 5
1965-1966     Tammy 
1965         Moment to Moment
1964         Kissin' Cousins
1963         Arrest and Trial 
1963         Stoney Burke 
1963         Sam Benedict 
1962         Hawaiian Eye 
1960-1962     77 Sunset Strip 
1961         Ben Casey 
1961         Five Minutes to Live
1961         Thriller
1961         Laramie 
1961         Checkmate 
1961         The Law and Mr. Jones
1960         13 Ghosts
1960         The Deputy
1960         Wagon Train
1960         Men Into Space
1960         The Rebel 
1960         I'll Give My Life
1960         Tightrope
1960         Bourbon Street Beat
1960         Bat Masterson 
1954-1960     G.E. True Theater 
1959         Tombstone Territory 
1957         Hotel Cosmopolitan
1956-1957     Crossroads 
1956         Afternoon Film Festival
1955         Star Stage
1955         The United States Steel Hour
1955         The Millionaire
1951-1954     Robert Montgomery Presents 
1954         Inner Sanctum
1954         Center Stage
1954         The Inner Flame
1954         Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson 
1953         The Orchid Award 
1953         The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
1953         Born to the Saddle
1953         Schlitz Playhouse
1953         Fireside Theatre
1953         The Studebaker Story 
1952         Craig Kennedy, Criminologist 
1950-1951     Armstrong Circle Theatre 
1951         Lights Out 
1951         The Bigelow Theatre
1951         All That I Have
1950         The Du Pont Story
1950         Mr. Music
1950         The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse 
1950         The Lost Volcano
1950         The Silver Theatre
1950         Johnny One-Eye
1949         Free for All
1949         Scene of the Crime
1949         Barbary Pirate
1949         Daughter of the West
1947         The Return of Rin Tin Tin
1947         Stepchild
1947         Bells of San Fernando
1946         The Time, the Place and the Girl
1946         Never Say Goodbye
1946         Night and Day
1945         Star in the Night 
1945         Wonder Man
1945         God Is My Co-Pilot
1945         Roughly Speaking
1944         Enemy of Women
1944         The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1943         Hi'ya, Sailor
1943         So's Your Uncle
1943         Watch on the Rhine
1943         Corregidor
1942         The Gay Sisters
1942         Thru Different Eyes
1941         I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island
1941         Bachelor Daddy
1941         Sky Raiders
1940         Mexican Spitfire Out West
1940         Young America Flies
1940         Love, Honor and Oh Baby!
1940         If I Had My Way
1940         Forgotten Girls
1940         City of Chance
1940         Mexican Spitfire
1939         Heritage of the Desert
1939         The Girl from Mexico
1939         Beauty for the Asking
1938         Danger on the Air
1938         Romance on the Run
1938         The Black Doll
1937         Big Town Girl
1937         Charlie Chan on Broadway
1937         Talent Scout
1937         The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
1937         Sea Devils
1937         Once a Doctor
1936         Isle of Fury
1936         A Son Comes Home
1936         Anthony Adverse
1936         The Song of a Nation 
1936         The White Angel
1936         Road Gang
1936         The Story of Louis Pasteur
1935         A Tale of Two Cities
1935         Frisco Kid
1935         Stranded
1935         The Case of the Curious Bride
1935         The Florentine Dagger
1934         Sweet Adeline
1934         She Was a Lady
1934         Charlie Chan's Courage
1934         Fog Over Frisco
1934         Merry Wives of Reno
1934         As the Earth Turns
1928         Motorboat Mamas