Don Devlin


Don Devlin was an American actor and screenwriter-producer.

Background

A graduate of DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bedford Park neighborhood, Devlin served from 1947-48 in the United States Army. In 1950, he was part of the Greenwich Village Dramatic Workshop. His acting was confined to the five years between 1956 and 1961, mostly on television. From 1960 to 1990, he was a writer-producer. He and his first wife, from whom he was divorced in 1963 after four years of marriage, the Filipina actress, Pilar Seurat, had a son, Dean Devlin, also a writer-producer, who is married to actress Lisa Brenner.

Acting

His first acting role was in 1956 as Bob Levine in the episode "Ninety Day Wonder" of the military drama Navy Log; Ron Hagerthy of the Sky King series also appeared in this episode. He then appeared in "The Big Siege" of the NBC Dragnet series, starring Jack Webb. He had various uncredited roles in film and television thereafter. In 1957, he played Eddie in the film, Blood of Dracula. In 1958 and 1959, he appeared in two episodes, "The Epidemic" and "The Ming Vase", of the ABC western series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.
On March 31, 1959, Devlin appeared as an Indan, Dixon White Eagle, in the episode entitled "The Mountain" of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Sugarfoot, with Will Hutchins in the title role. In the story line, Dixon White Eagle kills an old miner, and the crime is falsely attributed to White Eagle's brother-in-law, Vic Bradley. Sugarfoot goes to "The Mountain" to inform Bradley that he can receive a new trial based on later developments in the case. Miranda Jones plays Bradley's wife, Jean, White Eagle's sister. As the plot develops, White Eagle, who is dying from a snake bite, confesses to Bradley that he had committed the crime.
In 1959, he played Sgt. Gino DeLuca in the episode "Operation Firebee" of the NBC adventure series Steve Canyon, based on the comic strip of the same name. That same year, he portrayed Seth Barker in "The Noose That Broke" on the western series, Tombstone Territory, starring Pat Conway. In 1960, he guest starred in the episode "Blow, Gabriella" of Rod Cameron's third syndicated crime series, Coronado 9. In 1960, he was cast as "Moe" in the film Anatomy of a Psycho, starring Ronnie Burns, for which he also wrote the screenplay. His last acting role was as Ted Johnson in the 1961 episode "Sunken Car", Season 4, Episode 28 of Lloyd Bridges's syndicated television adventure series, Sea Hunt.

Later years

In 1962, Devlin was the associate producer of the documentary film, . In 1976, he was producer and screenwriter of Harry and Walter Go to New York, starring James Caan and Elliott Gould. In 1980, he was the producer of the film My Bodyguard, starring Chris Makepeace. In 1987, Devlin did his last technical film work as the executive producer of The Witches of Eastwick, based on the John Updike novel of the same name. In 1967, he married Constance Chesnut.

Death

Devlin died, aged 70, from lung cancer in Los Angeles.

Filmography