Don Terry

Don Terry (born Donald Prescott Loker, 8 August 1902 – 6 October 1988) was an American film actor, best known for his lead appearances in B films and serials in the 1930s and early 1940s. His best known role is probably playing the recurring character of Naval Commander Don Winslow in Universal Pictures serials of the early 1940s, including Don Winslow of the Navy (1942) and Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943).

Terry was born Donald Loker (though some sources give Locher) Natick, Massachusetts in 1902. He was a 1925 graduate of Harvard and participated in the 1924 Olympics as a boxer.

Terry was discovered while visiting Los Angeles as a tourist. During the visit, he hoped to see some film stars, but had been disappointed. Nearing the end of his trip, he decided to have lunch at Hollywood's Café Montmartre since it was a favorite of many in the film industry. Terry thought he might finally see a film star while having lunch, but found only other tourists who had the same hope. However, Fox screenwriter Charles Francis Coe was at the restaurant and happened to see Terry and thought of the screenplay he had just completed, based on his 1927 novel. Coe introduced himself and asked Terry if he was in the film industry. He gave Terry his business card and invited him to the Fox lot for a screen test. Terry went to the lot expecting only to be able to see some film stars. When Terry's screen test came out of the film laboratory, he was signed as the lead in the 1928 film Me, Gangster, the screenplay Coe had just written.

Known for his "typical clean-cut American hero roles", it was also noted that Terry was "not the most facile of actors". He was a contemporary of Victor Jory, Paul Kelly, and Charles Quigley, who all portrayed "bare-knuckled, sleeves-rolled-up hard hats" in various films.

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