Dan White

Dan White (March 25, 1908 – July 7, 1980) was born to George and Orpha White about one mile from the Suwannee River in Falmouth, Florida. At the time, Falmouth was a small, quiet town, as it remains today. He was one of 12 siblings, and the family moved to Lakeland around World War I. It was in Lakeland that Dan was introduced to show business in 1922 at the age of 14. He ran away from home when the show moved on and traveled thousands of miles throughout the South in tent, minstrel, vaudeville, and theater shows. Dan performed on stage with his brother Willard for nine years with a stock company in Tampa's old Rialto Theater. Frances Langford worked with him during this time, and it was Dan who advised her to go to Hollywood. During this period, he met Matilda "Tilda" Mae Spivey on the stage and married her on February 25, 1933. Tilda had a two-year-old child from a previous marriage named Arthur "Art" Grant Gifford. Times were difficult, so Dan temporarily left show business to earn more stable income. In 1934, he found work with the Conservation Corps in Homestead, Florida, but show business remained his true calling. Determined to make it in Hollywood, Dan decided to move to California in 1935. He and his family packed all their possessions into their Ford and began the long, challenging journey across the country. This was during the Great Depression, and money was scarce. They frequently stopped in various cities to earn extra money to continue their trip. Dan was a skilled auto mechanic and never had trouble finding this type of work wherever they went. This skill proved useful during the filming of *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962). During the "mob" scene, one of the cars they were to drive away in would not start. Dan opened the hood, stepped onto the front bumper, and had the car running in no time.