Background
Houston was born in Tonypandy, Glamorgan, and was the elder brother of actor Glyn Houston.
Houston was born in Tonypandy, Glamorgan, and was the elder brother of actor Glyn Houston.
Later in his career he was cast in military roles and in comedies such as the Doctor and Carry On series. He would sometimes indulge his Welsh accent as well as conceal it behind an English public school veneer. He had a successful career as a character actor in British film and television, with prominent parts in several well-known films, including,, (in which he appeared alongside Richard Burton), (again with Burton) and The Sea Wolves (1981).
His forte tended to be authority figures, often military, such as the brilliant but tough David Caulder, the head of Moonbase 3 or as Doctor Francis in Thirteen to Centaurus (from the anthology series Out of the Unknown).
He could also handle comedy, as he proved with and the later, both significant successes in Europe, and Though preferring quality parts, he was not above journeyman work in films such as and
On 13 October 1991, Donald Houston died in Coimbra, Portugal at the age of 67. Houston served in the Royal Air Force during World World War World War II