Donald Woods

Biography

Donald Woods, originally named Ralph Lewis Zink, was a Canadian-American actor whose extensive career in film and television spanned over sixty years. He was born on December 2, 1906, in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, before relocating with his family to California, where he grew up in Burbank. The son of Presbyterian parents of German heritage, William and Margaret Zink, he had a younger sibling, Clarence Russell Zink, who also pursued an acting career under the name Russ Conway.

Woods earned his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and made his cinematic debut in 1928. Much of his work consisted of B-movies, including his portrayal of the lawyer Perry Mason in the 1937 film "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop." He also secured leading roles in notable films such as "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).

His theatrical experience included significant performances with the Elitch Gardens Theatre Company in Denver during multiple seasons in the 1930s and 1940s. In the early television era, Woods starred in the 1951 series "Craig Kennedy, Criminologist," hosted "Damon Runyon Theater," and appeared in various anthology series. He also played the character John Brent on the short-lived series "Tammy." After retiring from acting in 1976, he became a successful real estate broker in Palm Springs. He was married to his childhood sweetheart, Josephine Van der Horck, from 1933 until his passing in 1998 and had two children, Linda and Conrad. He rests at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California.