Gordon Jump of 'WKRP in Cincinnati' fame dies at 71

Associated Press | 9/22/03 | LYNN ELBER

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Gordon Jump of 'WKRP in Cincinnati' fame dies at 71
LYNN ELBER
Associated Press

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, a Dayton native, suffered from a condition called pulmonary fibrosis, said his cousin, Katherine Jump Wagner. The illness involves 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 and is believed to have died at his home in Coto de Caza, she said.

The upscale community is southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County.

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

From 1967-88, Jesse White played the repairman who never gets a service call because of Maytag's reliability. White died in 1997 at age 79.

"Gordon was an incredibly talented actor and a remarkable human being," said Ralph Hake, chairman and chief executive officer of Maytag Corp. "It was natural for him to project an image of warmth, caring, dependability, respect and humor, because that's exactly the kind of person he was. ... We will miss him dearly."

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

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.

He 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 John F. Kennedy, and "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

Jump is survived by his wife, Betty; daughters, Cindy, Kiva, Maggi Jo and Laura and one son, Chris, Maytag said in a statement. He also had a brother, Wagner said.

Funeral services were pending Monday.

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bump

[strela]

Pop cult loss BUMP

[NormsRevenge]

bump for jump :-(

[boop]

Sad. He graduated from my high school, Centerville, OH. 1951. I remember seeing the class picture in the front lobby, it was funny to see him as a young man, since I knew him as "Big Guy" from WKRP

[lizma]

"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."" --Arthur Carlson

[nhoward14]

Heaven sure seems to be collecting quite a cast recently.

[aynrandfreak]

Wasn't he a Mormon? (not that there's anything wrong with that)

[lowbridge]

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

[South40]

He probably died of lonliness.

[NonValueAdded]

Sad bump for the Big Guy. I thought the "I've got a monkey on my foot" scene was on par with the turkey scene. Rest In Peace, Gordon.

[kimmie7]

I was going to post that same thing!!! THE funniest episode of any comedy series I have ever seen! Wish I had it on tape.

Jump was an excellent actor, and just seemed like an all around nice guy.

[lizma]

LOL, that was one of the funniest episodes ever on TV.

Amazon sells WKRP DVDs. I think I may get them after I finish watching my Rocky and Bullwinkle tapes.

[Samwise]

Mr Carlson: How many times have you said to yourself, "If I knew then what I know now"? Well, by golly, this is the new then. Now, I mean. Because I know now what I didn't used to know then. As a manner of speaking, you could say that I know now what I know now.


RIP, Big guy.

[68skylark]

I didn't know that WKRP was out on DVD. Can you provide any more information?

[HHFi]

I work in radio, and almost all of us radio people(at least those of us who came up in the '70s) are very fond of WKRP. Some friends of mine who have a syndicated radio service out of St. Louis used to write for it. If you worked in radio, it was always fun to see which things were dead-on accurate (sleazy salesman Herb Tarlick), which wouldn't have really happened that way (you could hear the music in the booth even when the DJs were talking - feedback city! - and they didn't wear headphones), and which ones were based on actual radio lore.

I've been told that the turkey episode was based on an actual promotion that I think was done for KLIF in Dallas in the '60s with pretty much the same result as on the TV show. There's also a story about some station that tried tossing frozen turkeys to lucky winners, and they slammed into the ground like asteroids and left craters.

[alnick]

So long Big Guy.

[lizma]

WKRP at Amazon.com

[irgbar-man]

RIP, Big Guy.

[kylaka]

Skimming through the article, I thought for a second he named one son Maytag.