Person Biography:
Jesse Marc Weidenfeld, better known as Jesse White, was a lovable and laid-back actor who made acting seem fun and easy. Born in Buffalo, New York, Jesse was raised in Akron, Ohio, where he began his acting career on the local stage at the tender age of 15.
Before breaking into professional theater in the 1940s, Jesse held a variety of jobs, including selling beauty supplies and lingerie. He eventually made his way to vaudeville and burlesque, and then reached Broadway in 1943.
Jesse's big break came in 1944 when he played the role of a rascally and gruff-mannered asylum attendant in the play Harvey, starring Frank Fay. This role catapulted him to fame, and he went on to appear in the movie version of Harvey alongside James Stewart in 1950.
The 1950s saw Jesse transition to television, where he became a regular fixture on several shows. He holds the record for appearing regularly in two series at the same time, a feat he accomplished in the 1950s with Private Secretary and The Danny Thomas Show.
Jesse's television career spanned over three decades, during which he made guest appearances on dozens of shows and appeared in 60 movies. He often played lovable rascals, and some of his last movie appearances were in the sci-fi films Pajama Party and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.
In his later years, Jesse seized a lucrative career opportunity and became television's second and longest-running Maytag Repairman from 1968 to 1989. For this role, he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for just a few days of filming.
Although Jesse was semi-retired during this time, he still managed to appear in a dozen movies, including his last film, Matinee, an homage to the sci-fi films of the 1950s and 1960s.
Jesse White passed away on January 9, 1997, just six days after his 80th birthday, due to a heart attack. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. Despite his passing, Jesse's legacy lives on as a beloved and iconic figure in the world of entertainment.
