Donald Woods


Actor
Donald Woods

About

Also Known As
Ralph L Zink, Donald Wood
Birth Place
Brandon, Manitoba, CA
Born
December 02, 1906
Died
March 05, 1998
Cause of Death
Cardiopulmonary Failure

Biography

A prolific actor with a 40 year career that included appearances in 98 plays, 150 television shows and 75 films, Donald Woods referred to himself as the "king of the Bs." Born in Canada as Ralph L. Zink and raised in Burbank, he legally changed his professional name in 1945 after having done many radio and stage productions and appearing in the features "Sweet Adeline" (1934) and "A Tale...

Biography

A prolific actor with a 40 year career that included appearances in 98 plays, 150 television shows and 75 films, Donald Woods referred to himself as the "king of the Bs." Born in Canada as Ralph L. Zink and raised in Burbank, he legally changed his professional name in 1945 after having done many radio and stage productions and appearing in the features "Sweet Adeline" (1934) and "A Tale of Two Cities" (1935). Woods hosted two 1950s television series, "The Orchid Award" and "Hotel Cosmopolitan" and was a regular on the series "Tammy." Known primarily for his western and whodunit work, Woods also guest starred on "Wagon Train" (NBC) and "The Wild, Wild West" (CBS). He left Hollywood and became a real estate agent in Palm Springs.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

No Regret (Non, je ne regrette rien) (1993)
True Grit (1969)
Barlow
A Time To Sing (1968)
Vernon W. Carter
Tammy and the Millionaire (1967)
John Brent
Dimension 5 (1966)
Cane
Moment to Moment (1966)
Mr. Singer
Kissin' Cousins (1964)
Gen. Alvin Donford
I'll Give My Life (1961)
Pastor Goodwin
13 Ghosts (1960)
Cyrus Zorba
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Capt. Phil Jackson
Born to the Saddle (1952)
Matt Daggett
All That I Have (1951)
Clergyman
The Du Pont Story (1951)
Irénée du Pont
Johnny One-Eye (1950)
Veterinarian
The Lost Volcano (1950)
Paul Gordon
Mr. Music (1950)
Tippy Carpenter
Free for All (1949)
Roger Abernathy
Daughter of the West (1949)
Ralph Connors
Barbary Pirate (1949)
Major Tom Blake, also known as Brighton
Scene of the Crime (1949)
[Bob] Herkimer
Bells of San Fernando (1947)
Michael O'Brien
The Return of Rin Tin Tin (1947)
Father Matthew
Step-Child (1947)
Ken Bullock
Never Say Goodbye (1946)
Rex DeVallon
The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)
Martin Drew
Night and Day (1946)
Wardrobe Blackburn
Roughly Speaking (1945)
Rodney Crane
Wonder Man (1945)
Monte Rossen
Voice of the Whistler (1945)
Paul Kitridge
Enemy of Women (1944)
Dr. Hans Traeger
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944)
Brother Juniper
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
Corregidor (1943)
Michael
Hi' Ya, Sailor (1943)
Bob Jackson
So's Your Uncle (1943)
Steve Curtis, also known as "Uncle John"
Watch on the Rhine (1943)
David Farrelly
Thru Different Eyes (1942)
Ted Farnsworth
The Gay Sisters (1942)
Penn Sutherland Gaylord
Bachelor Daddy (1941)
Edward Smith
I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island (1941)
Joel Grant [Joseph Elmer]
Sky Raiders (1941)
Mexican Spitfire (1940)
Dennis Lindsay
City of Chance (1940)
Steve Walker
Mexican Spitfire Out West (1940)
Dennis Lindsay
Love, Honor, and Oh-Baby! (1940)
Brian McGrath
Forgotten Girls (1940)
Dan Donahue
If I Had My Way (1940)
Fred Johnson
Beauty for the Asking (1939)
Jeffrey Martin
Heritage of the Desert (1939)
John Abbott
The Girl from Mexico (1939)
Dennis Lindsey
Romance on the Run (1938)
Barry Drake
The Black Doll (1938)
Nick Halstead
Danger on the Air (1938)
[Benjamin Franklin] Butts
Sea Devils (1937)
Steve Webb
The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937)
Perry Mason
Talent Scout (1937)
Steve Stewart
Big Town Girl (1937)
Mark Tracy
Once a Doctor (1937)
[Dr.] Steven Brace
Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
Speed Patten
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Dr. Jean Martel
The White Angel (1936)
Charles Cooper
A Son Comes Home (1936)
[Paul Connolly, also known as] Denny
Isle of Fury (1936)
Eric Blake
Anthony Adverse (1936)
Vincent Nolte
Road Gang (1936)
James Larrabie
Stranded (1935)
John Wesley
The Case of the Curious Bride (1935)
Carl [Montaine]
The Florentine Dagger (1935)
[Juan] Cesare
The Frisco Kid (1935)
Charles Ford
A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Charles Darnay
Merry Wives of Reno (1934)
Frank [Hammond]
Charlie Chan's Courage (1934)
Bob Crawford
She Was a Lady (1934)
Tommy Traill
Sweet Adeline (1934)
Sid Barnett
Fog over Frisco (1934)
Tony [Sterling]
As the Earth Turns (1934)
Stan [Janowski]

Writer (Feature Film)

Cry Freedom (1987)
Book As Source Material

Music (Feature Film)

Night Train (1990)
Music Editor
Plates (1990)
Music Editor
Winner Takes All (1990)
Music Editor
Grand Theft Hotel (1990)
Music Editor
Trapped (1989)
Music Editor
The King of Jazz (1989)
Music Editor
Die Laughing (1989)
Music Editor
High Desert Kill (1989)
Music Editor
I Saw What You Did (1988)
Music Editor

Film Production - Main (Feature Film)

Tongues Untied (1989)
Production Assistant

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Tongues Untied (1989)
Other
Cry Freedom (1987)
Consultant

Cast (Special)

Alcatraz: The Escape (1993)
South Africa: Steps Toward Freedom (1990)

Cast (Short)

The Song of a Nation (1947)
Star in the Night (1945)
Things You Never See on the Screen (1935)
Himself
A Dream Comes True The Making of an Unusual Motion Picture (1935)
Himself
Hollywood Newsreel (1934)
Himself

Life Events

1934

Appeared in the film "Sweet Adeline"

1935

Appeared in the film "A Tale of Two Cities"

1945

Legally changed his name to Donald Woods

1965

Acted as a series regular on "Tammy"

1969

Appeared in "True Grit"

Photo Collections

Anthony Adverse - Scene Stills
Here are some scene stills from Warner Bros' Anthony Adverse (1936), directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland.

Videos

Movie Clip

Story Of Louis Pasteur, The (1936) -- (Movie Clip) A Victim Of Your Bigotry Paris, 1860, summoned to the court of emperor Napoleon III (Walter Kingsford) in recognition for earlier feats, chemist Paul Muni (title character) rants about germs, irritating physician Charbonnet (Fritz Leiber) and gets blamed (by Porter Hall) for a murder committed by a civilian who supported his theories, then is consoled by Martel (Donald Woods), in The Story Of Louis Pasteur, 1936.
Story Of Louis Pasteur, The (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Savior Of The Sheep Ca. 1870, officials Radisse (Raymond Brown) and Martel (Donald Woods) visit Arbois, site of the current Pasteur museum, where Paul Muni (title character), with daughter (Anita Louise) and aide Roux (Henry O'Neill), is treating anthrax, in Warner Bros.' The Story Of Louis Pasteur, 1936.
Sweet Adeline (1934) -- (Movie Clip) We Were So Young For the second of two songs from the 1929 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II operetta, with an elaborate shot from director Mervyn LeRoy and cameraman Sol Polito, we find the title character (Irene Dunne) testing out a new tune by her beau Sid (Donald Woods), cueing a tiff, in Warner Bros.’ Sweet Adeline, 1934.
Sweet Adeline (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Here Am I In a Hoboken, NJ German-style beer garden ca. 1898, Irene Dunne (title character and daughter of the owner) aims to impress the U.S. Army recruiter and (Spanish-American War) hero Major Day (Louis Calhern), with a song from the original 1929 Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II operetta, in Warner Bros.’ Sweet Adeline, 1934.
Case Of The Stuttering Bishop, The (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Bishops Don't Often Need Lawyers First shot for Donald Woods as Perry Mason in his only outing as the lead character in the last feature in the Warner Bros. series, briefly Ann Dvorak as assistant Della, then Edward McWade as, it seems, a bishop, his first spoken lines, in The Case Of The Stuttering Bishop, 1937, from an Erle Stanley Gardner novel.
Case Of The Stuttering Bishop, The (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Conscience Or Curiosity Clever doings for the principals, Donald Woods the hero, Ann Dvorak his gal Della, Joseph Crehan the P-I Paul Drake, pursuing a mystery gal who may have clobbered the missing title character, in the final Warner Bros. Perry Mason mystery, The Case Of The Stuttering Bishop, 1937.
Case Of The Curious Bride, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Gregory Moxley (Errol Flynn) SPOILER here as it reveals the killer in the Warner Bros.’ Perry Mason mystery, Warren William in the title role accuses Donald Woods as young Montaine, who explains he’s not actually guilty, flashing back to the first credited Hollywood appearance for Tasmanian-born Errol Flynn, in The Case Of The Curious Bride, 1935.
Girl From Mexico, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Negra Consentida New Yorker Denny (Donald Woods), stuck in a remote Mexican village while trying to recruit a singer for a radio show, is dazzled when sparky Carmelita (Lupe Velez), with whom he’s already tangled, lets loose on a song (by Joaqùin Pardavè), in The Girl From Mexico, 1939.
Girl From Mexico, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Miss Nifty Nose! Lupe Velez, as Carmelita from Mexico, argues with the portrait of the snooty fianceè of the New York ad man who recruited her, for whom she’s now fallen, then meets Leon Errol as his Uncle Matt, who became a regular in her ensuing Mexican Spitfire series, in The Girl From Mexico, 1939.
Girl From Mexico, The (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Little Wet Firecracker New York ad man Denny (Donald Woods) is having no luck in Mexico recruiting a singer for a radio show when he meets the knockout hired help Carmelita (Lupe Velez), her first scene in the first picture in un-premeditated RKO Mexican Spitfire series, The Girl From Mexico, 1939.
Watch On The Rhine (1943) -- (Movie Clip) We Do Not Know Nazis Hosted by her mother (Lucile Watson) in Washington, just-returned ex-pat Sara (Bette Davis) and her German anti-fascist husband Kurt (Paul Lukas) suddenly have reason to suspect the Romanian diplomat house guest (George Coulouris), in Watch On The Rhine, 1943, from the Lillian Hellman play.
Anthony Adverse (1936) -- (Movie Clip) He's Won The Lottery! Much tumult in Napoleonic-era Italy, as lovers Fredric March (title character) and Olivia De Havilland (as "Angela") learn that her servant father (Luis Alberni) has won the lottery, irritating his employer Bonnyfeather (Edmund Gwenn), in Anthony Adverse, 1936.

Trailer

Anthony Adverse - (Original Trailer) Seven Oscar nominations went to Anthony Adverse (1936), Warner Brothers' adaptation of the best selling novel about 18th-Century Italy.
Night and Day - (Original Trailer) Fanciful biography of songwriter Cole Porter (Cary Grant), who rose from high society to find success on Tin Pan Alley.
Frisco Kid, The (1935) - (Original Trailer) A shanghaied sailor (James Cagney) turns himself into the king of San Francisco's rough-and-tumble Barbary Coast in The Frisco Kid (1935).
Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The - (Original Trailer) A nuclear blast in the Arctic awakens The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).
As The Earth Turns - (Original Trailer) A bitter feud between two hardscrabble farming families yields a crop of forbidden romance in As The Earth Turns (1934).
Tale of Two Cities, A (1935) - (Re-issue Trailer) Ronald Colman stars in A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Charles Dickens' classic story of two men in love with the same woman during the French Revolution.
13 Ghosts - (Original Trailer) A family inherits a house haunted by 13 ghosts and a living killer in William Castle's 13 Ghosts (1960).
Roughly Speaking -- (Original Trailer) Rosalind Russell is a headstrong woman who ends up with two marriages and seven children in the true story of Louise Randall Pierson.
Road Gang - (Original Trailer) A reporter (Donald Woods) exposes corruption on a southern chain gang in Road Gang (1936).
True Grit - (Original Trailer) John Wayne was awarded Best Actor playing a drunken U.S. Marshal who gets in touch with his True Grit (1969).
Case of the Curious Bride, The - (Original Trailer) Perry Mason (Warren William) helps a young woman whose supposedly dead husband suddenly returns to life. Look for Errol Flynn as a corpse.
Talent Scout - (Original Trailer) A Hollywood heartthrob helps a small-town girl achieve stardom in Talent Scout (1937).

Bibliography