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Al White

Al White is a character actor whose career stretches from classical theatre to one of the most fondly remembered comic exchanges in Airplane! Born in Houston on May 17, 1942, and raised in San Francisco from an early age, White came to acting after spending eight years working as a janitor in Golden Gate Park. What followed was not an overnight leap into movies, but a substantial grounding on the stage. White became a member of the American Conservatory Theater company for three years, appearing in more than seventeen plays. His work ranged from Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams, who was then the company’s playwright in residence. White originated the role of the military officer in Williams’ This Is (An Entertainment), and his theatre work earned him multiple awards. In 1975, he joined the company on a bicentennial cultural exchange to the Soviet Union, with performances in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater, Leningrad and Riga. For many movie fans, though, White is best known as one of the jive-talking passengers in Airplane!, delivering lines that require translation within the film’s straight-faced comic logic. He later reprised the idea for a courtroom scene in the sequel. It is a relatively small part, but exactly the sort of sharply played character work that can give a comedy its texture. White also appeared in Back to the Future Part II and built a long television resume across several decades. His credits include Wonder Woman, The Jeffersons, The Incredible Hulk and The Dukes of Hazzard, followed later by appearances in CSI: Miami and The King of Queens. Taken together, his stage and screen work shows the range of a performer equally at home in repertory theatre, broad comedy and television guest roles.