Character Actor Gordon Jump Dies

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

From Yahoo

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

 

LOS ANGELES - Gordon Jump, who played a befuddled radio station manager on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" and made his mark in commercials as the lonely Maytag repairman, died Monday. He was 71.

 

 

Jump suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, said his cousin, Katherine Jump Wagner. The illness causes scarring of the air sacs of the lungs, leading to heart or respiratory failure.

 

 

Wagner, of Arcanum, Ohio, said she learned of her cousin's death from her father, also named Gordon Jump. Her cousin was under hospice care at his home southeast of Los Angeles, she said.

 

 

Jump played Arthur Carlson in "WKRP in Cincinnati," which aired on CBS from 1978-82 and featured Gary Sandy, Loni Anderson (news), Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman and Richard Sanders as the ragtag station's crew.

 

 

A native of Dayton, Ohio, Jump began his career working at radio and TV stations in the Midwest. He worked behind the microphone and the camera, including jobs as a producer for Kansas and Ohio stations.

 

 

Jump portrayed the Maytag repairman "Ol' Lonely," a well-recognized advertising symbol, from 1989 until he retired from the role in July and another actor took over.

 

 

"Gordon was an incredibly talented actor and a remarkable human being," said Ralph Hake, chairman and chief executive officer of Maytag Corp.

 

 

Jump came to appreciate the attention he got for the ad campaign and the steady work it provided, Wagner said. But his heart was elsewhere professionally.

 

 

"What he loved more than anything was doing theater. He was a marvelous actor," she said, recalling a visit to Florida to watch him perform in "Norman, Is That You?"

 

 

Jump began his Hollywood career after moving to Los Angeles in 1963, appearing on series including "Daniel Boone," "Get Smart" and "The Partridge Family."

 

 

His dramatic roles included a part in the TV movie "Ruby and Oswald," about the assassination of President Kennedy, and "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

 

 

Jump is survived by his wife, four daughters and a son, Maytag said in a statement. He also had a brother, Wagner said.

[CanadianChris 0]

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

 

Godspeed, Mr. Carlson.

[Guest ToddRoyal]

Man. Another one of those people I grew up watching and taking for granted (WKRP re-runs and as the grandfather on Growing Pains.) I didn't realize how funny the guy actually was until later. I haven't seen much of his dramatic stuff but I bet it was good.

 

RIP

[Zack Malibu 0]

Jump was also on Soap for a while, and had guest appearances as a race track owner on the episode of The Incredible Hulk where Banner befriended a young retarded man. I think he was also the actor who portrayed "The Bicycle Man" in the special episode of Diff'rent Strokes where Arnold and Dudley were befriended by a bicycle shop owner who was a child molester. Last but not least, I just watched him recently as the headmaster of a prep school in a highly underrated 80's comedy called Making The Grade, which I think was Judd Nelson's debut (he was the main star of it).

[Downhome 0]

It sucks that he will not get that much press, and this will just fade away.

 

I always did enjoy the guy, and will always remember him.

 

Just like wrestlers (ok, MORE so with wrestlers), I feel like these guys I watch all of the time are a part of me, a part of my past, etc... It really gets to me when any of them pass on.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Aw well that sucks. I liked WKRP.