- Born
- DiedSeptember 22, 2003 · Los Angeles, California, USA (pulmonary fibrosis leading to heart and respiratory failure)
- Birth nameAlexander Gordon Jump
- Nickname
- Big Guy
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- The burly character actor Gordon Jump will probably be best remembered for the role of the radio station manager Arthur Carlson in the TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978). This is coincidental since, in the first part of his working life, he was found either behind a microphone or camera in stints with radio and TV stations in the Midwest, including producing jobs at stations in Kansas and Ohio.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1963, he quickly became involved in stage productions with Nathan Hale and Ruth Hale, a couple who had opened a small theater in Glendale, California, several years earlier, in order to make ends meet. The Hales preferred the stage to film, and they abandoned Hollywood film hopes when their theater was successful. Others developing their acting talents with the Hales included Mike Farrell and Connie Stevens. Jump always credited Ruth Hale for the real start of his career as an actor, and it has been said that Jump remained most passionate about acting in live theater.
He soon started appearing in numerous TV series, including Daniel Boone (1964), Get Smart (1965), and Green Acres (1965). Through his association with the Hale clan, he became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which led to appearances in educational and religious short films produced and directed by Judge Whitaker at Brigham Young University in the 1960s. He played a Mormon bishop in "You Make the Difference", a thoughtful husband in Marriage: What Kind for You? (1967), and even the Apostle Peter in Mormon Temple Film (1969). Ruth was instrumental in getting Jump to give up smoking, and she also admonished him to turn down offers to do beer commercials. To the end of his life, he took his membership in his faith seriously, including its health codes. He also was in other LDS church films including When Thou Art Converted 1967, What about Thad? 1969, The Guilty 1978 and Families are Forever 1982.
Gordon remained predominantly a television actor throughout a long career in the arts, but he did appear in some small parts in feature films such as Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). He also had a cameo appearance in The Singles Ward (2002), a comedy involving young Latter-Day Saint cultural experiences, which was written and directed by Kurt Hale, the grandson of Ruth and Nathan.
Beyond his acting career, Gordon produced The Tony Randall Show (1976) and directed an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati (1978). In the last years of his life, he was readily recognizable as the lonely Maytag Washer repairman in commercials that ran on television for several years starting in 1989. He effectively portrayed Ol' Lonely until retiring from the role just before his death. (The repairman was lonely because the machines never broke down.) As is often the case for actors with a flair for comedy, he was also adept at playing dramatic roles. As is also often the case with character actors, his face is recognizable to many who never knew his name.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Brian Greenhalgh
- SpousesBetty Sue McKeever(December 15, 1993 - September 22, 2003) (his death)Anna Inge Jump(October 26, 1963 - 1992) (divorced, 3 children)Olinda Dorothea Mathilda Kandt(April 18, 1954 - 1962) (divorced, 1 child)
- Because he was its spokesperson, Maytag customers would ask him for help with their appliances.
- Was the Maytag repair man in the Maytag appliance commercials and in the company's brochures.
- Gordon Jump was once approached by a woman in a crowd who asked to give him a hug. She told him that his performance in The Bicycle Man: Part 1 (1983) gave her the courage to talk to others about abuse she had suffered as a child.
- Gordon worked for a short time at the Hamburger Hamlet Restaurant on Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California in 1964 as a host until he learned that AT&T was re-running a commercial he had done for them some time earlier. The income from that commercial freed him from working outside show business for good.
- He wasn't the first choice for the lead role as Arthur Carlson on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), when Roddy McDowall was unavailable, he was called by Jay Sandrich to play the role.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content