Dan White

Known for ActingBorn 1908-03-25Died 1980-07-07Falmouth, Florida, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Gunning for Justice

Shaggy

The Return of the Durango Kid

To Kill a Mockingbird

Death Rides the Range

Everybody's Old Man

Gone with the Wind

Touch of Evil

Smoke In The Wind

The Grapes of Wrath

West Point

Lonely are the Brave

Green Acres

Have Gun, Will Travel

Born to Be Wild

The Gunfighter

Intruder in the Dust

Red River

Rawhide

Blazing Guns

The Rifleman

The Cowboy and the Indians

Destry Rides Again

Escape from Red Rock

The Road to Denver

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Country Girl

Maverick

The Last Hunt

The Sheepman

Gun Town

The Utah Kid

Smart Guy

Outlaws of Stampede Pass

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Red Tomahawk

The High Chaparral

Deadwood Dick

The Tall Target

General Electric Theater

Frontier Gun

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

His Kind of Woman

I Married a Witch

Gunsmoke

Albuquerque

Sea Hunt

Rawhide