Alexander Gordon Jump (April 1, 1932 â€" September 22, 2003) was an
American actor best known as the clueless yet occasionally wise radio
station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series WKRP in
Cincinnati and the incompetent "Chief of Police Tinkler" in the sitcom
Soap. Jump's most memorable guest starring role was on a two-part
episode of the 1980s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, in which he portrayed a
pedophile who attempts to molest main characters Arnold and his
friend, Dudley. He also played the "Maytag Repairman" in commercials
for Maytag brand appliances, from 1989 until his retirement from the
role in July 2003.Born Alexander Gordon Jump, in Dayton, Ohio, Jump
graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1955. In
1957, Jump graduated with a degree in journalism from Kansas State
University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and worked
for KSDB, the Kansas State Student Radio Station. He began his career
working at radio and television stations in Manhattan and Topeka,
Kansas. In Topeka he did the weather on WIBW-TV in 1959; in the early
1960s, he performed on the station's weekday after-school children's
program as "Wib the Clown," then had to change clothes quickly and
wipe off the clown makeup in order to report the weather on the local
evening news, which followed.In September 1961 he returned to Dayton
and joined WLWD (now WDTN) as the station's director of special
broadcast services. He continued as a producer and on-air personality
at WLWD, hosting Gordon Jump's Fun Time, a popular show for younger
children, and High Time, a variety series, before deciding to move to
Los Angeles and study acting.Jump first began his acting career in the
1960s with minor roles in television on such shows as Get Smart,
Lancer, Here Come the Brides, and Green Acres. He also guest-starred
in a number of series during the 1970s including The Rockford Files, A
Touch of Grace, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, The Incredible Hulk
(in an October 1978 episode called "Ricky"), The Lost Saucer, Starsky
& Hutch, Lou Grant, Kojak, The Bionic Woman, The Mary Tyler Moore
Show, and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. He had a brief speaking
role as a farmer in the 1976 television movie Sybil.
American actor best known as the clueless yet occasionally wise radio
station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series WKRP in
Cincinnati and the incompetent "Chief of Police Tinkler" in the sitcom
Soap. Jump's most memorable guest starring role was on a two-part
episode of the 1980s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, in which he portrayed a
pedophile who attempts to molest main characters Arnold and his
friend, Dudley. He also played the "Maytag Repairman" in commercials
for Maytag brand appliances, from 1989 until his retirement from the
role in July 2003.Born Alexander Gordon Jump, in Dayton, Ohio, Jump
graduated from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1955. In
1957, Jump graduated with a degree in journalism from Kansas State
University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and worked
for KSDB, the Kansas State Student Radio Station. He began his career
working at radio and television stations in Manhattan and Topeka,
Kansas. In Topeka he did the weather on WIBW-TV in 1959; in the early
1960s, he performed on the station's weekday after-school children's
program as "Wib the Clown," then had to change clothes quickly and
wipe off the clown makeup in order to report the weather on the local
evening news, which followed.In September 1961 he returned to Dayton
and joined WLWD (now WDTN) as the station's director of special
broadcast services. He continued as a producer and on-air personality
at WLWD, hosting Gordon Jump's Fun Time, a popular show for younger
children, and High Time, a variety series, before deciding to move to
Los Angeles and study acting.Jump first began his acting career in the
1960s with minor roles in television on such shows as Get Smart,
Lancer, Here Come the Brides, and Green Acres. He also guest-starred
in a number of series during the 1970s including The Rockford Files, A
Touch of Grace, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, The Incredible Hulk
(in an October 1978 episode called "Ricky"), The Lost Saucer, Starsky
& Hutch, Lou Grant, Kojak, The Bionic Woman, The Mary Tyler Moore
Show, and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. He had a brief speaking
role as a farmer in the 1976 television movie Sybil.
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