Gordon Jump

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Gordon Jump
Jump in 1979
Born	Gordon Alexander Jump April 1, 1932(1932-04-01) Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	September 22, 2003 (aged 71) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–2003
Spouse(s)	Anna F. Inge Jump (1963-1992) Betty McKeever (1993-2003)

Gordon Alexander Jump (April 1, 1932 – September 22, 2003) was an American actor best known as the clueless radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati and the incompetent "Piece of Chalief Tinkler" in the sitcom Soap. He also played the "Maytag Repairman" in commercials for Maytag brand appliances, from 1989 until his retirement from the role in July 2003.

Biography

Early life

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Jump graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1955. In 1957, Jump graduated with a degree in journalism from Kansas State University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He began his career working at radio and television stations in Manhattan and Topeka, Kansas. In Topeka he did the weather on WIBW-TV in 1959; in the early 1960s, he performed on the station's Saturday morning children's program as "Wib the Clown." He was a television producer and on-air personality in Dayton, Ohio, when he decided to move to Los Angeles and study acting.

Acting career

Jump first began his acting career in the 1960s with minor roles in television on such shows as Get Smart, Lancer, Here Come the Brides, and Green Acres. He also guest-starred in a number of series during the 1970s including The Rockford Files, The Incredible Hulk (in an October 1978 episode called "Ricky"), The Lost Saucer, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, The Bionic Woman, and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. In 1978, he landed the role of Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.

After WKRP in Cincinnati folded in 1982, Jump made an appearance as a pedophile on Diff'rent Strokes. He later hosted the PBS series Make Yourself at Home and taught voice classes, and made frequent appearances on the hit television show, Growing Pains. Jump also enjoyed working in theater. In 1989, he took over the Maytag repairman role from Jesse White. In the 1990s, Jump starred in a short-lived revival of WKRP entitled The New WKRP in Cincinnati. He also appeared in the ninth and final season of Seinfeld, where he played George Costanza's boss at a playground equipment company over two episodes. Jump's last film role was in the 2004 film Changing of the Guard released after his death.

Death

Jump was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He died in 2003 from pulmonary fibrosis, leading to respiratory failure at his home near Los Angeles, California.^[1]

Selected Filmography

References

External links

• Gordon Jump at the Internet Movie Database
• Gordon Jump at TV.com
• The MSN Entertainment entry on Jump
• The USA Today Obituary on Jump
• Kansas State Historical Society biography of Gordon Jump
• Gordon Jump at Find a Grave