Here’s What Happened to Actor David White Before, During and After Playing Larry Tate on ‘Bewitched’

Career Beginnings

David was also involved with television beginning in 1949 with an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour, which was followed by such anthologies as Nash Airflyte Theatre, Lights Out, Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Philco Television Playhouse, Goodyear Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, Playhouse 90 and The Twilight Zone. There were also many episodic guest appearances prior to his signing aboard Bewitched, including The Phil Silvers Show, Peter Gunn, Bonanza, The Untouchables, My Three Sons, Surfside 6, Outlaws and Richard Boone’s Have Gun, Will Travel.

Fun Fact

An interesting bit of trivia, says Herbie, is that “David had worked with Elizabeth before Bewitched, in an episode of The Untouchables called ‘The Rusty Heller Story,’ in which she played a prostitute. It’s a role for which she received her first Emmy nomination.”

Before Larry Tate

On the big screen in the days before Larry Tate, he appeared in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The Goddess (1958), The Apartment (1960), Sunrise at Campobello (1960), The Great Imposter and Madison Avenue (both 1961) and The Lollipop Cover (1965).

The ’60s

Then, in 1964, he was signed for the part that he would become most identified with, the president of advertising agency McMann & Tate as the previously mentioned Larry Tate, a character he would play through the show’s entire 1964 to 1972 run.

Creating a Character

“I wasn’t born to play Larry,” David explained. “I had to create him. He was a make-believe character of his own truth slated in a comedy series. When playing humor and farce, you take that truth and stretch it as far as it will go. But not any farther. When I was playing Larry, though he was a funny character, I never tried to be funny.”

The Secret to Acting

David continued, “To me, acting has to do with fulfilling the needs of the character you’re playing, not the actor who’s playing him. Although the one thing the actor and the character have in common is that both have needs. A real heavy is a man who doesn’t have any moral structure whatsoever; one who ends up cheating or even killing someone. Larry was selfish, but he was never that extreme. If anything, he was still a little kid who never matured.”

Favorite Episodes

He listed a number of episodes he considers among his favorites of the series. “The Moment of Truth” (Season 3, Episode 22) deals with Samantha trying to work up the courage to tell Darin that their daughter, Tabitha (Erin Murphy), is demonstrating magical abilities — something she has to stop Larry and his wife, Louise (Kasey Rogers), from witnessing.

Season 3

In “Bewitched, Bothered and Infuriated” (Season 3, Episode 31), Samantha and Darrin interfere with a vacation the Tates are on after Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) conjures up a newspaper stating that Larry will break his leg and they’re doing their best to prevent that from happening.

Season 4

Finally, there’s “Toys in Babeland” (Season 4, Episode 2), which has Endora inadvertently bringing one of Tabitha’s toys — the Toy Soldier (Jim Brooks) — to full-sized life. David noted that his favorite moment in that episode was when he and the soldier share a drink at the bar.

‘Tabitha’

One point Herbie emphasizes is that David “ultimately felt he was never fully appreciated on the show. Years later, when Bill Asher was producing the Tabitha series, David refused Bill’s request to make an appearance as Larry on that show. ‘I didn’t need the money,’ he told me. ‘And I simply was not going to do it.’”

The Aftermath

In the aftermath of Bewitched, David went back to guest starring on TV shows, including Mission: Impossible (long before Tom Cruise made the title his own), The Paul Lynde Show, Love, American Style; Banacek, The Odd Couple, Rhoda and The Rockford Files. In 1977 he joined the cast of the TV version of Marvel Comics’ The Amazing Spider-Man, which starred Nicholas Hammond as the title character and David as Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. His last TV role was in a 1986 episode of Dynasty. Back on the big screen, he could be seen in Snowball Express (1972), The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977), and Fast Forward and Brewster’s Millions (both 1985).

Reuniting

He ended up co-starring with a number of Bewitched stars over the years in different series. For instance, besides his appearance on The Untouchables with Elizabeth Montgomery, he and the first Mrs. Kravitz, snoopy neighbor of Samantha and Darrin, Alice Pearce were on the Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1951; he and Dick Sargent (the second Darrin on the series) co-starred in the 1961 film The Great Imposter, Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay on Bewitched) was cast alongside him in a 1964 episode of Twelve O’Clock High; and he and Maurice Evans (Samantha’s warlock father, Maurice) were together on a 1972 episode of Search and 1973 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Personal Life

His personal life was not an easy one. In 1952 he married stage actress Mary Welch. Three years later, Mary gave birth to their son, Jonathan. Sadly, in 1958 while pregnant with their second child, she suffered an internal hemorrhage that resulted in her death. In 1959 he married Lisa Figus, with whom he had a daughter named Alexandra.

Tragedy

Tragedy struck again on December 21, 1988 when Jonathan (only 33 at the time) died in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that had departed from London’s Heathrow Airport and was traveling to New York City’s JFK Airport. Comments Herbie, “That was one thing he never got over. He was heartbroken. And Elizabeth was not aware of this until they reunited during my combined interview with them for my second meeting with Elizabeth at her home.

“Jonathan was his only son and he loved him dearly,” Herbie adds. “so much so that while doing Bewitched, he requested that Larry’s son also be named Jonathan, and the producers complied.”

Legacy

Like all of his Bewitched co-stars, he really didn’t have a sense the impact the show would have on several generations of television viewers. “Overall,” says Herbie, “David never really knew how beloved he was by fans. However, during the 1990s, he was amused when he learned of a local Los Angeles rock band called ‘The Larry Tate Experience.’”

David White died November 27, 1990 of a heart attack at the age of 74.