Actor Jesse White, The ‘Maytag Repairman,’ Dies At 79

Jesse White, veteran character actor and comedian best remembered for his 22-year commercial stint as the idle and bored “Maytag repairman,” died Thursday. He was 79.

White died following complications of surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his daughter, Carole White Ita.

In the popular Maytag commercial, White humorously made the point that the brand of washing machine rarely - if ever - needed repair, making his job unbearably lonely.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., who grew up in Akron, Ohio, White started out shining shoes and selling the bathtub gin his mother made during Prohibition. He worked his way to Broadway via vaudeville and burlesque, and then moved to Hollywood where he often portrayed the comic side of heels and small-time gangsters.

White’s last television appearance was a two-part role on “Seinfeld” last season.