Jesse White Maytag Repairman

Jesse White Maytag Repairman, Jesse White, a character actor who appeared in scores of film and stage productions but earned universal recognition in a television commercial as the Maytag repairman whose phone never rings, died on Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 79.

Mr. White was seen in acclaimed, long-running Broadway shows like ”Harvey,” in which he was the comedic male nurse. He then became one of only two members of the original cast to appear in the 1950 movie version, in which James Stewart took the male lead in the Mary Chase comedy. And he rejoined Mr. Stewart for the 1970 stage revival at the ANTA Theater, in a production that also starred Helen Hayes.

Known as an indefatigable worker, he was seen in 17 Broadway shows, most famously ”Harvey,” and 64 feature films as well as a dozen or so television series and variety shows. He rounded out his successful acting career by doing television commercials, selling Swiss Colony wine and Chung King chow mein.

But his biggest job as a salesman on the home screen came with Maytag, for which he made 68 commercials as the melancholy repairman with nothing to do.

The ads ran from 1967 to 1989. Then Mr. White became a consultant for the company, and his role was taken over by Gordon Jump, the bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson on the sitcom ”WKRP in Cincinnati.”

Jesse Marc White, whose original surname was Weidenfeld, was born in Buffalo and earned his spurs in vaudeville and burlesque. He was often cast as a pushy type or the cigar-chomping heavy, but he was equally at home in comedy and drama.

Among his film credits were ”Bedtime for Bonzo,” ”Marjorie Morningstar” and ”Death of a Salesman.” His many television credits included the ”Ann Southern Show” (1956-62), Danny Thomas’s ”Make Room for Daddy” (1952-58), and the ”Marlo Thomas Show” (1969-71). He made his last film appearance in 1993 in ”Matinee,” with John Goodman.

He is survived by his wife, Celia, of Beverly Hills, Calif.; two daughters, Carole Ita White and Janet Jonas, both of Los Angeles; two brothers, Sid, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Al, of Los Angeles, and three grandchildren.

Correction: January 16, 1997, Thursday An obituary of the actor Jesse White on Saturday listed his survivors incorrectly in some copies. They are his wife, Celia; two daughters, Carole Ita White and Janet Jonas; two brothers, Sid and Al, and three grandchildren. Tony Jonas, president of Warner Brothers Television in Los Angeles, is a son-in-law, not a son. Mr. White had five sisters-in-law, not sisters — Johanna Kahn and Ruth Olafski of Los Angeles; Bea Weidenfeld of Pompano Beach, Fla.; Carrie Levitsky of Forest Hills, Queens, and Lee Kahan of Bellerose, Queens.

Jesse White Maytag Repairman 2013-07-08T06:42:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: My Videos Tube