Dan White (actor)

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Dan White (March 25, 1908 — July 7, 1980) was an American actor.

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[edit] Biography

Dan White was born to George and Orpha White in Falmouth, Florida who was one of 12 siblings. Their family moved to Lakeland sometime during WWI. He started to introduce himself into show business at age 14. Dan fleed home when the show went on, traveling thousands of miles throughout the South in tent, mistrel, vaudeville, and theater shows. His brother Willard had put on a show with him for 9 years with a stock exchange company in Tampa's Ritalo Theater. Frances Langford worked with him during the time and he convinced her to go to Hollywood. During this period, he met Tilda Spivey and propositioned a marriage on February 25, 1933. She had a 2-year-old child, Arthur Gifford, before her wedding. Because times were dreaded in that time, Dan had to get away from show biz to make real money. In 1934, he got work with the Conversation Corps, but he knew what to make it to Hollywood, and he took a cruise to Los Angeles. He and his family had to make extra stops at cities all over the country to earn money to go on.

In January 1937, he stopped at Texarkana, Arkansas, where Tilda had just got "an unborn child". Her sister, Mary, was also there and offered them to stay there for a few months. The baby, June Larue White, was finally born and their family was now big enough to travel.

[edit] In Hollywood

They had arrived 16 days after, and rented a house for 23 years, even film scripts were written in their own living room. Dan had a hard time finding a job and was in Panama working on the Pan American Highway. Although upon return in 1938, he had got work with the Republic Pictures Corporation with 6 films made in his first year. His first film was Prairie Moon with Gene Autry. Dan made a $55/week working on it. Over his years in Hollywood, he claimed to have made about 300 films, and 150 television cameos. Around 70 percent were Western. Among some well-known films were The Yearling, Distant Drums, Red River, To Kill a Mockingbird, Giant, Duel in the Sun, Four Faces West, Jailhouse Rock, and Touch of Evil. During the time, they adopted a third child, Donald White, born November 9, 1941. Dan's films that made him famous were his numerous appearances in B-Western movies, where he portrayed the antagonist. During the 1950s and 1960s, he started turning to television. He was offered as the role of Sam the Bartender in Gunsmoke, but he didn't commit to the idea. He asked Glenn Strange to apply for the job. Dan loved California for almost 40 years, but his true love was his old town in Florida. Upon retirement, he returned to Tampa and made appearances in Western Film Round-Ups and talk shows. He was often visited by his family until his death on July 7, 1980 in Tampa.

[edit] Filmography

An asterisk (*) means that Dan White had an uncredited role; two asterisks means that he was credited as Daniel White or Daniel M. White.

[edit] External links

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