Lee White (actor)
Lee White | |
---|---|
Screen capture of White | |
Born |
Lee Roy White August 28, 1888 Wills Point, Texas, U.S. |
Died |
December 16, 1949 61) Hollywood, California, U.S. | (aged
Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 19??–49 |
Spouse(s) | Norma White (?-1949) (his death)[1] |
Lee White (August 28, 1888 – December 16, 1949), better known as Lee "Lasses" White, was an American actor of the stage, screen and radio. He became famous doing minstrel shows during the early part of the 1900s, during which time he earned his nickname of "Lasses", which was short for Molasses. After spending some time on radio, White entered the film industry in the late 1930s. During his eleven-year career he appeared in over 70 films.
Life and career
Lee Roy White was born on August 28, 1888, in Wills Point, Texas. During the early part of the 1900s he made a name for himself working in minstrel shows, such as the A.G. Fields Minstrels, and vaudeville.[2][3] In 1913, he wrote one of the first blues songs ever published, "Nigger Blues".[4] Its lyrics became the standard blues form used in the 1920s and '30s.[5] He worked in radio for a number of years, including four years for the Grand Ole Opry.[2] In the mid 1920s he formed part of a duo with "Honey" Childs, to whom White gave the nickname as a complement to his own, Lasses.[6] In 1932 White hosted his own Friday night radio program on WSM.[7] In 1934, White & Wilds were given a contract to work at the Grand Ole Opry, where they remained until 1939,[6] having one of the most popular programs at the Opry.[8] Their routine included both songs and dialogues that parodied and satirized the growing commercialism in the United States, particularly in the South.[7]
In 1939 White, along with Wilds and their friend Chill Wills went to Hollywood to enter the film industry.[6] His first role was as a shopkeeper in the Gene Autry western Rovin' Tumbleweeds.[9] While both he and Wills remained in Hollywood, Wilds returned to Nashville.[6] In the early 1940s, White became one of two sidekicks in a series of westerns starring Tim Holt at RKO. He replaced Emmett Lynn, who had been one of Holt's dual sidekicks in the first four films Holt did at RKO. White, in the role of Whopper Hatch, worked on the next eight Holt oaters at Radio during 1941—42.[10] At the same time, White was also a regular in the Scattergood Baines films, playing Ed Potts, the husband of the town gossip.[2] He also appeared in other films during this period, including such notable ones as 1941's biopic Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.[11]
White died on December 16, 1949 in Hollywood, California, of leukemia.[12] He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[13]
Filmography
- Midnight Club (1933)
- Trailin' West (1936)
- Grandpa Goes to Town (1940)
- If I Had My Way (1940)
- Oklahoma Renegades (1940)
- The Bandit Trail (1941)
- Come on Danger (1941)
- Cyclone on Horseback (1941)
- Dude Cowboy (1941)
- Scattergood Baines (1941)
- Scattergood Pulls the Strings (1941)
- Sergeant York (1941) - Luke - Target Keeper (uncredited)
- Six-Gun Gold (1941)
- The Round Up (1941)
- Thundering Hoofs (1942)
- You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
- The Talk of the Town (1942)
- Land of the Open Range (1942)
- Riding the Wind (1942)
- Cinderella Swings It (1943)
- Klondike Kate (1943)
- The Unknown Guest (1943)
- Minstrel Man (1944)
- The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
- Alaska (1944)
- Song of the Range (1944)
- When Strangers Marry (1944)
- Dillinger (1945)
- The Lonesome Trail (1945)
- Saddle Serenade (1945)
- Springtime in Texas (1945)
- West of the Alamo (1946)
- Fear (1946)
- Moon Over Montana (1946)
- Song of the Sierras (1946)
- Suspense (1946)
- Trail to Mexico (1946)
- Rainbow Over the Rockies (1947)
- Cheyenne (1947)
- Ginger (1947)
- Louisiana (1947)
- Magic Town (1947)
- Six-Gun Serenade (1947)
- Song of the Wasteland (1947)
- The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
- The Trouble with Women (1947)
- The Babe Ruth Story (1948)
- The Dude Goes West (1948)
- The Golden Eye (1948)
- Indian Agent (1948)
- The Lawton Story (1949)
- Mississippi Rhythm (1949)
- Red Rock Outlaw (1949)
- The Valiant Hombre (1949)
- Please Believe Me (1950)
- The Texan Meets Calamity Jane (1950)
References
- ↑ http://www.b-westerns.com/pals5.htm
- 1 2 3 Wollstein, Hans J. "Lee "Lasses" White, biography". AllMovie. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- ↑ Kyriakoudes, Louis M. The Grand Ole Opry and the Urban South. p. 77.
|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ↑ Gracyk, Tim (2000). Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925. New York: Routledge. p. 43.
- ↑ Carlin, Richard (2002). Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Routledge. p. 224.
- 1 2 3 4 Ankeny, Jason. "Honey Wilds, Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- 1 2 Kyriakoudes, Louis M. The Grand Ole Opry and the Urban South. p. 78.
|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ↑ Kyriakoudes, Louis M. The Grand Ole Opry and the Urban South. p. 75.
|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ↑ "Rovin' Tumbleweeds: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Tim Holt". The Old Corral. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- ↑ Eagan, Daniel (2012). America's Film Legacy. New York: A&C Black. p. 334. ISBN 0826429777.
- ↑ "Famed Minstrel Dies". Medford Mail Tribune. 16 Dec 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 20 December 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Lee Roy "Lasses" White". Find a Grave. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Lee "Lasses" White". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
External links
- Lee White on IMDb
- Lee White at Find a Grave