Jesse White
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Not Available
A self-described "household face," character actor Jesse White made his first stage appearance as a teenager in his adopted hometown of Akron, OH. Supporting himself with a variety of civilian jobs, White worked the nightclub circuit in Cleveland, then moved on to what was left of vaudeville in the late '30s. White's first Broadway role was in 1942's The Moon is Down; two years later he scored his biggest success as the acerbic sanitarium attendant in Mary Chase's Harvey, a role he would repeat for the 1950 film version (though Harvey is often listed as White's film debut, he can be seen in a bit role as an elevator operator in 1947's Gentleman's Agreement). While he has appeared in some 60 films, White is best known for his TV work, which allowed him to play Runyon-esque gangsters, theatrical agents, neurotic TV talk show hosts, art connoisseurs, toy manufacturers, and whatever else suited his fancy. Two of his longest professional associations were with satirist Stan Freberg (White was featured in several of Freberg's commercials and comedy albums) and comedian/TV mogul Danny Thomas (White played agent Jesse Leeds during the first few seasons of Make Room for Daddy). In the 1970s, White became established as the "lonely" Maytag repairman in a series of well-circulated TV commercials; when he stepped down from this role in the late '80s, the event received a generous amount of press coverage. Jesse White was still in harness into the 1990s. In 1992, he was memorably cast as a sarcastic, cigar-chomping theater chain owner in Joe Dante's Matinee. He passed away at age 79 following complications from surgery on January 8, 1997.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | Pastor Jones: My Sister Loves You |
|
— | 2008 |
92% | Matinee |
|
— | 1992 |
No Score Yet | Monster in the Closet |
|
— | 1987 |
67% | The Cat from Outer Space |
|
— | 1978 |
20% | Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Nashville Girl |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Las Vegas Lady |
|
— | 1975 |
No Score Yet | The Brothers O'Toole |
|
— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | Bless the Beasts and Children |
|
— | 1971 |
No Score Yet | The Spirit Is Willing |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | The Reluctant Astronaut |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Ghost in the Invisible Bikini |
|
— | 1966 |
No Score Yet | Dear Brigitte |
|
— | 1965 |
33% | Pajama Party |
|
— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | A House Is Not a Home |
|
— | 1964 |
70% | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
|
— | 1963 |
No Score Yet | It's Only Money |
|
— | 1962 |
No Score Yet | On the Double |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | Three Blondes in His Life |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | The Big Night |
|
— | 1960 |
71% | The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond |
|
— | 1960 |
No Score Yet | Marjorie Morningstar |
|
— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | Tomboy and the Champ |
|
— | 1958 |
82% | Designing Woman |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | Back From Eternity |
|
— | 1957 |
63% | The Bad Seed |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | The Come On |
|
— | 1956 |
11% | Not as a Stranger (Morton Thompson's Not as a Stranger) |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Hell's Half Acre |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Forever Female |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Witness to Murder |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Gun Smoke |
|
— | 1953 |
86% | Million Dollar Mermaid |
|
— | 1952 |
No Score Yet | Death of a Salesman |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Callaway Went Thataway |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | The Raging Tide |
|
— | 1951 |
67% | Bedtime for Bonzo |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Francis Goes to the Races |
|
— | 1951 |
86% | Harvey |
|
— | 1950 |
No Score Yet | Guilty Bystander |
|
— | 1950 |
No Score Yet | Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven |
|
— | 1948 |
76% | Gentleman's Agreement |
|
— | 1947 |
88% | Kiss of Death |
|
— | 1947 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
Trapper John, M.D.
1979-1986
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Quincy, M.E.
1976-1983
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
I Dream of Jeannie
1965-1970
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Green Acres
1965-1971
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962-1971
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Wild Wild West
1965-1969
|
|
|
83% |
The Munsters
1964-1966
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Perry Mason
1957-1966
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Bonanza
1959-1973
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Jonny Quest
1964-1965
|
|
|
82% |
The Twilight Zone
1959-1964
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Andy Griffith Show
1960-1968
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961-1966
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Quotes from Jesse White's Characters
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