His Life Wasn't A Sitcom
David White became unforgettable to Bewitched fans as Larry Tate, the shamelessly opportunistic advertising executive. Away from TV, however, White's life contained losses almost impossible to comprehend. He lost his first wife tragically young, and three decades later, he shockingly lost the son they had shared.
He Was Born In Denver
Daniel David White was born April 4, 1916, in Denver, Colorado. His family later moved to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and White eventually attended Los Angeles City College. Acting became his calling, although the polished businessman audiences later knew as Larry Tate emerged only after years of theatrical training and hard-earned experience.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
He Learned His Craft
White trained at two respected theatrical institutions, the Pasadena Playhouse in California and Cleveland Play House in Ohio. The experience gave him the strong stage foundation characteristic of many early television performers. Long before sitcom audiences knew his face, White had learned how to construct characters before live audiences.
Jeff Lorch, Pasadena Playhouse, Wikimedia Commons
War Interrupted Everything
Like countless young Americans of his generation, White's career plans were interrupted by World War II. He served in the United States Marine Corps before returning to acting after his discharge. Instead of pursuing immediate Hollywood stardom, White concentrated on theater, beginning the long apprenticeship that eventually made him an extraordinarily dependable character actor.
Broadway Finally Called
White made his Broadway debut in Leaf and Bough in 1949. More New York theater followed, including The Pink Elephant, A Roomful of Roses, and later Romanoff and Juliet. The work established him as a professional stage actor several years before television would make his stern, prematurely gray face familiar across America.
American Studio, N.Y., Wikimedia Commons
Television Opened Another Door
White broke into television during the medium's formative years, appearing on Lights Out in 1951 and steadily accumulating credits throughout the decade. He became exactly the kind of performer early television required: experienced, versatile and able to establish an authoritative character quickly, whether playing a businessman, officer, doctor or less trustworthy figure.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
Hollywood Noticed Him
White landed one of his most memorable early film assignments in Alexander Mackendrick's Sweet Smell of Success (1957), starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. As sleazy columnist Otis Elwell, White demonstrated an ability to make disagreeable men entertaining, a skill that would become particularly useful when Larry Tate entered his life.
Screenshot from Sweet Smell of Success, United Artists (1957), Enhanced
Then Tragedy Struck
White had married actress Mary Welch, herself an accomplished stage performer. They had a son, Jonathan. On May 31, 1958, Welch died from an internal hemorrhage while pregnant with their second child, leaving White widowed with their young son.Years before his greatest professional success, he had already experienced a devastating personal loss.
U.S. Army Official Photograph, Wikimedia Commons
He Started Again
White subsequently married actress Lisa Gorsuch, later known as Lisa Figus, and they had a daughter, Alexandra. The marriage later ended in divorce, although reliable biographical accounts don't consistently establish when. White was therefore balancing fatherhood and a complicated personal life while his acting career accelerated.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
Wilder Came Calling
Billy Wilder cast White as Mr. Eichelberger in The Apartment (1960), starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray. White was perfectly suited to the movie's world of compromised corporate men. That same year he appeared with Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson in Vincent J. Donehue's Sunrise at Campobello (1960).
Billy Wilder / United Artists / Mirish Corporation, Wikimedia Commons
Television Kept Him Busy
White became a familiar television guest throughout the early 1960s. His credits included Perry Mason, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, My Three Sons, The Fugitive, Bonanza and other major programs. Casting directors discovered that White could instantly communicate authority, pomposity, nervousness or moral slipperiness.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972), Enhanced
Elizabeth Already Knew Him
White and Elizabeth Montgomery actually worked together before Bewitched. Both appeared in the acclaimed Untouchables episode featuring Montgomery as Rusty Heller, a performance that earned her an Emmy nomination. When their careers crossed again a few years later, they would become part of one of television's most enduring comedy ensembles.
Screenshot from The Untouchables, ABC (1959–1963)
Larry Tate Arrived
In 1964, White joined ABC's new fantasy sitcom Bewitched as Larry Tate, president of McMann & Tate and boss of advertising executive Darrin Stephens. Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha, Dick York was Darrin, and Agnes Moorehead was Endora. The series quickly became one of television's biggest new hits.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
Larry Would Sell Anything
Larry was the consummate advertising man, perpetually courting clients and expecting Darrin to rescue whatever account was currently in danger. He could praise Darrin one minute and threaten to fire him the next. White made Larry selfish and opportunistic without turning him into a genuine villain, finding comedy in his insecurity.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
White Made Him Human
White later distinguished Larry from truly malicious characters, regarding him more as an emotionally immature man than a genuine heavy. That distinction mattered. Beneath the bluster and dishonesty, White allowed audiences to glimpse Larry's vulnerability, helping transform what could have been a repetitive sitcom boss into an indispensable supporting character.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
The Cast Valued Him
White reportedly adored Elizabeth Montgomery, while Montgomery and producer-director William Asher recognized his exceptional comic abilities. Asher described White's timing as "quicksilver." White also developed effortless comic rhythms with Dick York and later Dick Sargent, whose Darrin constantly struggled to satisfy Larry while concealing Samantha's supernatural secret.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
But White Felt Overlooked
Despite his importance, White believed Bewitched never fully appreciated him. He particularly resented waiting years for prominent opening-credit recognition and felt Asher sometimes gave him a difficult time. The frustration lingered even though White appeared in 191 episodes and was one of the program's most recognizable performers.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
Jonathan Entered The Show
White's private life even influenced Larry Tate. He reportedly requested that Larry and Louise Tate's son be named Jonathan, after White's own son. It was a small but deeply personal connection between the actor and his television alter ego, one that became painfully poignant after events many years later.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
He Even Directed
White's contribution eventually extended beyond playing Larry. He directed the 1969 Bewitched episode Samantha's Double Mother Trouble, demonstrating another side of his television experience. By then the series had undergone a major transition, with Dick Sargent replacing the ailing Dick York as Darrin beginning with the sixth season.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
The Magic Finally Ended
Bewitched ended in 1972 after eight seasons. White had remained with the series throughout its entire run, surviving its changing Darrins and evolving television landscape. Larry Tate became the role permanently associated with him, but White had no intention of retiring. He returned to the character-actor career he'd built before Samantha ever twitched her nose.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
He Refused A Return
When Asher later asked White to reprise Larry on the spinoff Tabitha, White refused. He reportedly said he didn't need the money and simply wouldn't do it. His decision revealed how deeply his feeling of being undervalued on Bewitched had lingered after the show's cancellation.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
Work Never Really Stopped
White continued appearing on television in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Kojak, Rhoda, Phyllis, The Love Boat, Quincy, M.E., Remington Steele and Cagney & Lacey. He also played newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson in the 1977 television movie that served as the pilot for The Amazing Spider-Man.
Screenshot from The Amazing Spider-Man, Columbia Pictures Television (1977), Enhanced
He Returned To Movies
White appeared opposite Dean Jones in Disney's Snowball Express (1972) and later joined Richard Pryor and John Candy in Walter Hill's Brewster's Millions (1985), playing George Granville. He also appeared in Sidney Poitier's Fast Forward (1985), proving Larry Tate had never completely swallowed his film career.
Screenshot from Brewster's Millions, Universal Pictures (1985)
Theater Still Mattered
Television fame never severed White's connection to the stage. He remained active in Los Angeles theater, including work with Theatre West and the Mark Taper Forum. Later appearances included Savages in 1975, An Enemy of the People in Seattle in 1979, and Handy Dandy in 1984.
Chris Eason from London, Wikimedia Commons
Tragedy Found Him Again
On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by terrorists over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people aboard and 11 people on the ground lost their lives. Among the passengers was White's 33-year-old son Jonathan, the boy he had raised after losing Mary Welch three decades earlier.
He Never Fully Recovered
The loss reportedly left White enraged and embittered. He withdrew socially for a period after Jonathan's death, although friends eventually saw signs that he was returning to theater and social life. For a man who had already lost Jonathan's mother tragically young, the second loss was almost unimaginably cruel.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
His Laughter Lives On
David White died from a heart attack in North Hollywood on November 27, 1990. He was 74. He left behind daughter Alexandra and decades of stage, film and television work, yet Larry Tate remains his enduring creation. White's ashes were ultimately placed alongside those of his son Jonathan.
Screenshot from Bewitched, ABC (1964–1972)
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