Biographie
Darkly handsome actor Don Castle, known for his fresh-faced appeal and promising talent, gained recognition from the late 1930s through the 1940s but never achieved top-tier stardom. Born Marion Goodman, Jr. in Beaumont, Texas, in 1918 and raised in Houston, Don attended the University of Texas before moving to California to pursue acting.
An agent noticed his resemblance to a young Clark Gable and introduced him to MGM, who signed the 20-year-old aspiring actor—by then renamed Don Castle. MGM slowly developed his career, starting him with numerous small, often uncredited roles in films like Young Dr. Kildare (1938), Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), The Ghost Comes Home (1940), and I Take This Woman (1940). Occasionally, MGM gave him more prominent supporting roles, such as in the comedy Rich Man, Poor Girl (1938), where he played a member of Ruth Hussey’s eccentric family, and as Dennis Hunt in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), reprising the role in Out West with the Hardys (1938). Despite appearances in several MGM shorts, interest in him waned.
Paramount later cast Don in a minor role in You're the One (1941), starring popular singer Bonnie Baker. His second film, Power Dive (1941), a loan-out, offered him a second lead role as the rival brother of test pilot Richard Arlen’s character, competing for Jean Parker’s affection. Don demonstrated strong acting skills in Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die (1942), where he played Johnny Duanne, fourth billed alongside Richard Dix as Wyatt Earp.
World War II interrupted Don’s career when he was drafted into the Army Air Force, during which he made training films for the First Motion Picture Unit. After his 1946 discharge, he returned to Paramount but found little opportunity, landing only a small role in the war drama The Searching Wind (1946). Independently, Don earned top billing in the low-budget Lighthouse (1947), portraying a lighthouse keeper competing for June Lang’s character. He also co-starred in the modest racing film Born to Speed (1947) alongside Johnny Sands and Vivian Austin.
Don developed a close friendship with former child actress Bonita Granville after co-starring with her in the Monogram film noir The Guilty (1947). This connection proved beneficial; he was cast in Wrather Production Company's drama High Tide (1947) with Lee Tracy and Julie Bishop, and again appeared opposite Bonita in Strike It Rich (1948). Don served as best man at Bonita’s 1947 marriage to studio head Jack Wrather.
Most of Don’s subsequent leading or supporting roles in low-budget independent films were similarly unrewarding, including The Invisible Wall (1947), Roses Are Red (1947), Perilous Waters (1948), Madonna of the Desert (1948), Who Killed 'Doc' Robbin? (1948), I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes (1948), and Stampede (1949). He signed a three-picture deal with Lippert Productions, but only Motor Patrol (1950) was produced. When film roles dried up in 1950, Don found occasional work on television anthology programs.
During the early 1950s, Don and his second wife, Zetta, opened Castle's Red Barn (1959) in Palm Springs, which became a popular lodging spot they operated for seven years. In 1957, Don had minor roles in The Big Land (1957) and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957). The Wrathers helped him again when Jack appointed Don president of International Television Corporation. Don also served as associate producer on Wrather’s classic series Lassie (1954) from 1960 to 1962.
Don’s later years were troubled by depression. After divorcing Zetta in 1962, he died of a drug overdose at age 47.
