Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Don Marshall(1936-2016)

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Don Marshall
Watch Trailer
Play trailer2:21
The Thing with Two Heads (1972)
2 Videos
29 Photos
Don Marshall's heyday was on the small screen in the 60's and 70's. The athletic and clean cut actor is best remembered as first officer and co-pilot Dan Erickson in Irwin Allen's ground-breaking science-fiction series Land of the Giants (1968). Having excelled at football, pole vaulting and other sports at college, he happily undertook most of his own stunt work. Along with Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek (1966)) and Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible (1966)), Don was one of the precious few African-American actors of that period to be regularly featured as a prime time lead on screen. 'Land of the Giants' ran for a mere two seasons (51 episodes in all) and went off the air simply because the props became too expensive to produce. Over the years it acquired a steady cult following among science-fiction aficionados.

Don had started out as an engineering student in the mid-50's and took up acting on the advice of a friend. He studied drama at the workshop of Hollywood acting coach Robert Gist and pursued theatre arts at Los Angeles City College. Following brief stage experience, he then segued into television. His acting career still nascent, he landed a small role (as a marine engaged to Nichelle Nichols) in an episode of The Lieutenant (1963), a short-lived venture produced by Gene Roddenberry. A few years later, he was again recruited by Roddenberry to play the part of astrophysicist Boma for the Star Trek episode "The Galileo Seven" (reuniting him with Bob Gist who served as director). Don was given the chance to show his acting credentials in several powerful scenes interacting with Leonard Nimoy.

In subsequent years, he busied himself with roles on many diverse kinds of TV shows ranging from Daktari (1966) and Ironside (1967) to Julia (1968). On the big screen, he acted in the violent 'blaxploitation' prison drama Terminal Island (1973) and was one of the leads in the schlock sci-fi outing The Thing with Two Heads (1972). By the mid-70's, plum roles became relatively scarce and Don focused on running his own production company (DJM Productions) which specialized in turning out commercials and documentary subjects. Latterly, Don became a regular attendee of sci-fi conventions who always spoke appreciatively of the genre and of Roddenberry in particular. He died on October 30, 2016 in Los Angeles, Calif. aged, 80.
BornMay 2, 1936
DiedOctober 30, 2016(80)
BornMay 2, 1936
DiedOctober 30, 2016(80)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank

Photos29

Don Marshall in Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
Don Marshall in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
Diahann Carroll and Don Marshall
Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, and Don Matheson in Land of the Giants (1968)
Gary Conway and Don Marshall in Land of the Giants (1968)
Gary Conway, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, and Don Matheson in Land of the Giants (1968)
Don Marshall in Land of the Giants (1968)
Gary Conway, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, Don Matheson, and Heather Young in Land of the Giants (1968)
Stefan Arngrim, Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, and Don Marshall in Land of the Giants (1968)
Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, and Heather Young in Land of the Giants (1968)
Stefan Arngrim, Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, Don Matheson, and Heather Young in Land of the Giants (1968)
Gary Conway, Kurt Kasznar, Deanna Lund, Don Marshall, Don Matheson, and Heather Young in Land of the Giants (1968)

Known for

Terminal Island (1973)
Terminal Island
5.2
  • A.J. Thomas
  • 1973
Gary Conway in Land of the Giants (1968)
Land of the Giants
7.0
TV Series
  • Dan Erickson
Gary Lockwood in The Lieutenant (1963)
The Lieutenant
8.4
TV Series
  • Pvt. Ernest Cameron
Ray Milland and Roosevelt Grier in The Thing with Two Heads (1972)
The Thing with Two Heads
4.5
  • Dr. Fred Williams
  • 1972

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Highway Heartbreaker (1992)
    Highway Heartbreaker
  • Pamela Bellwood, Anthony Franciosa, and Christopher Norris in Finder of Lost Loves (1984)
    Finder of Lost Loves
  • Debrah Farentino, Nicholas Walker, and Jess Walton in Capitol (1982)
    Capitol
  • Melissa Sue Anderson, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Richard Bull, Sidney Greenbush, Jonathan Gilbert, Rachel Lindsay Greenbush, and Katherine MacGregor in Little House on the Prairie (1974)
    Little House on the Prairie
  • Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk (1977)
    The Incredible Hulk
  • The Suicide's Wife (1979)
    The Suicide's Wife
  • Gil Gerard and Erin Gray in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)
    Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
  • Rescue from Gilligan's Island (1978)
    Rescue from Gilligan's Island
  • Shaun Cassidy, Pamela Sue Martin, and Parker Stevenson in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
    The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
  • Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977)
    Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover
  • Nick Nolte and Peter Strauss in Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II (1976)
    Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II
  • The Bionic Woman (1976)
    The Bionic Woman
  • Janet Jackson, Johnny Brown, Ralph Carter, Ja'net DuBois, Ben Powers, Esther Rolle, BernNadette Stanis, and Jimmie 'JJ' Walker in Good Times (1974)
    Good Times
  • Paul Lynde, Jesse Emmett, Robert Morley, and Ronnie Cox in Hugo the Hippo (1975)
    Hugo the Hippo
    • (voice)
  • Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police Story (1973)
    Police Story

Videos3

Trailer
Trailer 2:35
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:21
Trailer
Land Of The Giants
Trailer 0:56
Land Of The Giants

Personal details

Edit
    • May 2, 1936
    • San Diego, California, USA
    • October 30, 2016
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(natural causes)
    • (divorced)
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Has a twin brother.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.