Don Castle
Don Castle was an American film actor of the 1930s, 40s & 50s.
Biography
Son of Marion Emanuel Goodman Sr. and Lucille Jeantelle-Viterbo, Castle was born in Beaumont, Texas. He went to the University of Texas where he was roommates with Jack Wrather.Castle’s resemblance to Clark Gable started his acting career as a stage actor.
He then moved to films, ultimately signing with Paramount Pictures howeverWorld War II stalled his career. Castle was drafted into the Army Air Force, during which he made training films for the First Motion Picture Unit.
Upon returning to Hollywood, Castle found many of his fans had turned to Alan Ladd. He bumped into Wrather again who had become bored with the oil business.
Wrather decided to set up as a movie producer, making The Guilty starring Castle and Wrather's new wife Bonita Granville. Around this time Castle also starred in a series of noir-esque B films notably ‘Roses are Red,’ ‘Lighthouse,’ ‘The Invisible Wall’ & ‘I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes.’
In the 1950s Castle & his wife Zetta Castle opened a celebrity hideaway boarding house called ‘Castle’s Red Barn’ in Palm Springs, California.
Wrather tapped Castle again later in the 1960s to become a television producer for his beloved Lassie television program.
In May 1966, Castle was found in his North Hollywood, CA. apartment dead of an apparent medication overdose aged 48.