Don Hawks

Don Hawks is an actor who became a producer and director later in life. Starting at the age of seven, he appeared, uncredited, in Stagecoach (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Red River (1948), Sands of Iwa Jima (1949) and El Dorado (1967). Hawks also acted in numerous television shows such as Gunsmoke and Bonanza, and had appeared in commercials for Miller Beer and Marlboro cigarettes when he decided to begin his second career as a film producer and director. Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Hawks' companies Frameline Productions, Inc. and Frameline Filmworks produced Lost (1983), Beasts (1983) and Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry (1986), with Hawks also directing the latter two films. Hawks later acquired control of Alexander Film Company, a storied but fading producer of theatrical and TV commercials that had a large studio facility and sound stages in Colorado Springs. In its prime years, Alexander had more than 20,000 clients and employed up to 600 workers, making it Colorado Springs' largest employer, but it fell upon hard times in the 1960s. After Hawks acquired Alexander, he downsized the company and moved it from its historic location to more modern smaller office and production space on Elkton Drive in Colorado Springs. In an interview by Rick Ansorge published in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph October 12, 1988, Hawks promoted the merger of Alexander with his company, pitched various movie projects, and stated that he is the grandnephew of famed Western director Howard Hawks.