Don Terry(1902-1988)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Best remembered by many cliffhanger fans of the 30s and 40s as
staunch, gung-ho hero Don Winslow, athlete-turned-actor Don Terry
identified quite well with his alter-ego. An adventurer at heart, he
was born and christened Donald Prescott Loker on August 8, 1902. His
parents were of Old English background. He enlisted in the Marines as a
teenager but honorably discharged less than a year later due to a
disability.
Don attended Harvard and played freshman football,
basketball and baseball, working in coal yards to pay his tuition.
Joining the Reading Keys in the International Baseball League, he later
played pro football in Boston and Providence as part of the
Steamrollers team. Along the way he fought under the name of "Bobbie
Dinsmore" in the boxing arena and circled the globe on cargo ships.
Somehow the wanderlust Don Loker managed to migrate to Hollywood and
there found a curiosity in movie-making. He gave himself the stage name
of Don Terry and started in movie bits. Occasionally finding virile
leads in action dramas, he slowly built up a stalwart reputation in
this area. His first serial was as a hard-nosed reporter in The Secret of Treasure Island (1938).
Universal Studios showed interest in his work and signed him up in
1941, becoming one of their more popular serial players in the early
40s. Don Winslow of the Navy (1942) became his signature role. Terry played the grim,
tenacious Winslow with a set determination and gritty sense of purpose
that thrilled war-time audiences at the time. In the story the Winslow
character is assigned to Navy intelligence to battle the unscrupulous
Scorpion organization.
More staunch heroics would come his way with the
sequel Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943). After that role Terry himself enlisted in the Naval
Reserve and was made Lieutenant Commander in the Pacific. He was
awarded the Purple Heart in 1944. By the time he left the service in
1946, he left movies as well and turned to business ventures. Married
twice, he became a noted philanthropist in later years. Don Terry (aka
Don Winslow) died in 1988 in Oceanside, California.
staunch, gung-ho hero Don Winslow, athlete-turned-actor Don Terry
identified quite well with his alter-ego. An adventurer at heart, he
was born and christened Donald Prescott Loker on August 8, 1902. His
parents were of Old English background. He enlisted in the Marines as a
teenager but honorably discharged less than a year later due to a
disability.
Don attended Harvard and played freshman football,
basketball and baseball, working in coal yards to pay his tuition.
Joining the Reading Keys in the International Baseball League, he later
played pro football in Boston and Providence as part of the
Steamrollers team. Along the way he fought under the name of "Bobbie
Dinsmore" in the boxing arena and circled the globe on cargo ships.
Somehow the wanderlust Don Loker managed to migrate to Hollywood and
there found a curiosity in movie-making. He gave himself the stage name
of Don Terry and started in movie bits. Occasionally finding virile
leads in action dramas, he slowly built up a stalwart reputation in
this area. His first serial was as a hard-nosed reporter in The Secret of Treasure Island (1938).
Universal Studios showed interest in his work and signed him up in
1941, becoming one of their more popular serial players in the early
40s. Don Winslow of the Navy (1942) became his signature role. Terry played the grim,
tenacious Winslow with a set determination and gritty sense of purpose
that thrilled war-time audiences at the time. In the story the Winslow
character is assigned to Navy intelligence to battle the unscrupulous
Scorpion organization.
More staunch heroics would come his way with the
sequel Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943). After that role Terry himself enlisted in the Naval
Reserve and was made Lieutenant Commander in the Pacific. He was
awarded the Purple Heart in 1944. By the time he left the service in
1946, he left movies as well and turned to business ventures. Married
twice, he became a noted philanthropist in later years. Don Terry (aka
Don Winslow) died in 1988 in Oceanside, California.