Dan White profile
Actor profile

Dan White

25th March 1908 Falmouth, Florida, USA Acting

Dan White (March 25, 1908 - July 7, 1980) was born to George & Orpha White about one mile from the Suwannee River in Falmouth, Florida. Falmouth was a small sleepy town then, as it is still today. He was one of 12 siblings who were moved to Lakeland sometime around WW I. Lakeland is where Dan was introduced into show business in 1922 at the age of 14. He ran away from home when the show moved on and traveled thousands of miles throughout the South in tent, minstrel, vaudeville and theater shows. Dan performed on stage with his brother Willard for nine years with a stock company in Tampa's old Rialto Theater. Frances Langford worked with him during this time and it was Dan who told her to go to Hollywood. During this period he met Matilda "Tilda" Mae Spivey on the stage, and married her on February 25, 1933. Tilda had a two-year-old child from a previous marriage by the name of Arthur "Art" Grant Gifford. Times were tough, so Dan had to get out of show business for a while to make some real money. In 1934 he found work with the Conservation Corps in Homestead, Florida, but show business was always in his heart. Dan knew he had what it took to "make it" in Hollywood, so he decided to make the move to California in 1935. They packed all their possessions into their Ford and started the long, arduous trek across the country. This was during the Great Depression, and money was very tight. They had to stop frequently in various cities across the country to make extra money to continue their journey. Dan was a very good auto mechanic and never had a problem finding this type of work wherever he went. This skill paid off once during the filming of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). During the "mob" scene, one of the cars they were to drive away in would not start. Dan opened the hood, stepped onto the front bumper, and had the car running in no time flat.

110 Movies 39 TV Shows 149 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

The Tall Men poster
The Tall Men 22nd September 1955 as San Antonio Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Suddenly poster
Suddenly 17th September 1954 as Burg (uncredited)
Inferno poster
Inferno 12th August 1953 as Lee - Ranch Hand (uncredited)
Rawhide poster
Rawhide 25th March 1951 as Gilchrist (uncredited)
El Paso poster
El Paso 22nd March 1949 as Henchman (uncredited)
Dynamite poster
Dynamite 18th January 1949 as Skipper Brown (uncredited)
Red River poster
Red River 17th September 1948 as Laredo (uncredited)
Shaggy poster
Shaggy 11th June 1948 as Joe Simms
Gun Town poster
Gun Town 18th January 1946 as Joe - Henchman
Texas poster
Texas 9th October 1941 as Ringsider (uncredited)
Our Town poster
Our Town 24th May 1940 as Wedding Guest Talking to Constable
Rawhide poster
Rawhide 9th January 1959 as Sheriff of Elkville
Cheyenne poster
Cheyenne 20th September 1955 as Sheriff (uncredited)
Lassie poster
Lassie 12th September 1954 as Amos Lovejoy