Jesse White - "The Loneliest Man in Town"

Jesse White was a character actor who appeared in many tv shows and movies. But his most well-known role was as the "Maytag Repairman" in a long-running advertising campaign for the appliance maker. His character symbolized the reliability of Maytag products to the extent that their repairman never got any repair calls, and thus became "the loneliest man in town". The campaign with Mr. White ran for over 20 years.

In 1981, I wrote him the usual letter, requesting a photo because I could not find a portrait to send him. I preferred portrait photos, but some times, especially for character actors, only scene stills were available from the photo dealers. Mr. White responded with a very nice composite 8x10, showing him as four characters, plus a tiny shot of him in the center as the Maytag Repairman.