Don Porter

Don Porter is a veteran film and television character actor whose lengthy career spanned everything from nondescript roles in low-budget films to high-profile appearances in successful primetime TV series. Porter, who married actress Peggy Converse in 1944, worked steadily throughout the '40s in forgettable dramas like "Night Monster" and "Eyes of the Underworld," but in the early '50s, he transitioned to television and scored a major role as powerful talent agent Peter Sands on the popular sitcom "Private Secretary." His chemistry with co-star Ann Sothern, who portrayed his devoted secretary, proved so popular that when Sothern was given her own show in 1959, he reprised his role for another two seasons. In 1963, he was cast as the bemused father of teen inguene Gidget in "Gidget Goes to Rome," and a few years later, he landed the same role in the short-lived TV series based on the popular film character. Porter, who appeared in numerous TV series and films during the '70s, gave a memorable performance as a shrewd Republican Senator in the 1972 political drama "The Candidate," about the corruption and pointlessness inherent in the political process. He later appeared as a kindly judge in the Disney TV movie "The Ghosts of Buxley Hall" and as a scheming corporate CEO in the environmental thriller "The Last Song."