Don MacLaughlin

{{Infobox person

|image=Don MacLaughlin.JPG

|birth_date={{Birth date|1906|11|24}}

|birth_place=Webster, Iowa, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|1986|5|28|1906|11|24}}

|death_place=Goshen, Connecticut, U.S.

|occupation=Actor

|spouse=Mary Prugh

|children=3

}}

William Donald MacLaughlin (November 24, 1906 – May 28, 1986) was an American actor. The son of a doctor,{{cite news|title='As World Turns' Marks 20th Year|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/don-maclaughlin-vault-0000075836|work=The Bee|date=March 29, 1976|location=Virginia, Danville|page=26|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} MacLaughlin was born November 24, 1906, in Webster, Iowa. He studied speech and English at Iowa Wesleyan University, Northwestern University, and the University of Arizona.{{cite news|title=Biography: Don MacLaughlin|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5413630/the_daily_standard/|work=The Daily Standard|date=June 24, 1972|location=Missouri, Sikeston|page=13|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 28, 2016}} {{Open access}}

Early years

MacLaughlin's family contained "a long line of ministers", and he planned to study for the ministry when he entered college.{{cite news |title=Don MacLaughlin Makes Convincing Chaplain Jim |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-times-chaplain-jim/141992967/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=The Capital Times |date=July 5, 1942 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224171919/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-capital-times-chaplain-jim/141992967/ |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |location=Wisconsin, Madison |page=12|via = Newspapers.com}}

Television

MacLaughlin originated the role of lawyer Chris Hughes on As the World Turns in 1956, and played the role until his death in 1986. Contract negotiations kept him (and his on-screen wife Helen Wagner) off the soap for most of the early 1980s, but the show finally welcomed the two back in a big storyline with heavy uses of past clips from the show. In the story, Chris and his wife Nancy were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. In real life, As the World Turns was celebrating its thirtieth anniversary on the air. {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

MacLaughlin was also a member of the Gang Busters.{{cite book|last1=Sterling|first1=Christopher H.|title=Encyclopedia of Radio|date=2004|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|location=New York City, New York|isbn=1-57958-249-4|pages=644–645|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Bookshelf-IDX/IDX/DEF/Encyclopedia-Complete-OCR-Page-0703.pdf|accessdate=May 29, 2016}}{{dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Radio

Prior to TV, MacLaughlin was active on radio, beginning in 1933. He starred as the title character on radio's David Harding, Counterspy in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1945, he joined the cast of The Romance of Helen Trent, in the role of Dwight Swanson, "a rancher who becomes interested in Helen Trent."{{cite news|title=New Stars Join WHP "Romance of Helen Trent" Cast|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5407419/harrisburg_telegraph/|work=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=February 17, 1945|location=Pennsylvania, Harrisburg|page=15|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} MacLaughlin's other roles on radio included those listed in the table below.

Program	Role
class="wikitable"
As the Twig Is Bent	Kit CollinsTerrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN\|978-0-7864-4513-4}}. P. 70.
Chaplain Jim	Chaplain Jim{{r\|rp\|page1=54}}
The Road of Life	Dr. Jim Brent{{r\|rp\|page1=285}}
Tennessee Jed	Tennessee Jed Sloan{{r\|rp\|page1=328}}
The Zane Grey Theater''	Tex Throne{{r\|rp\|page1=364}}

He was also in the cast of Buck Private and His Girl.{{r|rp|page1=54}}

Stage

MacLaughlin appeared in a 1948 Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's play, The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden[http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=97252 Don MacLaughlin profile], IBNDB.com; accessed October 16, 2014.{{cite magazine|last1=Francis|first1=Bob|title=Broadway Openings|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1948/Billboard%201948-03-27a-OCR-Page-0041.pdf|accessdate=May 29, 2016|magazine=Billboard|date=March 27, 1948|page=45}} and in Virginia Reel (1947){{cite web|title=Don MacLaughlin|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/don-maclaughlin-vault-0000075836|website=Playbill Vault|accessdate=May 29, 2016}} and The Fifth Column (1940).{{cite magazine|last1=Burr|first1=Eugene|title=New Plays on Broadway|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/40s/1940/Billboard-1940-03-16-OCR-Page-0016.pdf|accessdate=May 29, 2016|magazine=Billboard|date=March 16, 1940|page=16}}

Personal life

MacLaughlin married Mary Prugh, a newspaperwoman. They had three children.

Death

After a brief illness, Maclaughlin died on May 28, 1986, at his daughter's home in Goshen, Connecticut,{{cite news|title=Soap actor Don MacLaughlin dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5413474/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|agency=Associated Press|date=June 3, 1986|location=California, San Bernardino|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 28, 2016}} {{Open access}} and is buried in Dover, Vermont.{{Citation needed |date=February 2024}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=0533723|name=Don MacLaughlin}}
{{IBDB name|person=Don MacLaughlin}}
{{Find a Grave|7195291}}

Category:1906 births

Category:1986 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:American male radio actors

Category:American male soap opera actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:Male actors from Iowa

Category:People from Keokuk County, Iowa

Category:Place of death missing