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September 22, 2003
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Date Posted: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 11:16:37am
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 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.
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.
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.
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