David White from 'Bewitched' Lost His Son under Tragic Circumstances

Posted by Abbie Anker on Tuesday, May 21, 2024

David White, who accomplished his greatest fame as Larry Tate on the hit television series "Bewitched," lost his son in the bombing of the Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland.

Pan Am flight 103 was a routinely scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York. On December 21, 1988, a bomb destroyed N739PA, the aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of the route. The tragic incident killed all 243 passengers and 16 crew.

By the time of his death, White had appeared on numerous television series.

Large sections of the aircraft fell onto residential areas of Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 11 people on the ground. It was the murderous terror attack in the United Kingdom's history with a total of 270 individuals died.

Among the victims was White's 33-year-old son, Jonathan. The legendary actor, who had been widowed soon after Jonathan's birth, was soured and angered by this disaster.

For a time, White, who graduated from Los Angeles City College and began acting at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Cleveland Play House, avoided the company of other people. However, he was coming back to some social activity and theatre work when he died of a heart attack on November 27, 1990, at 74 years old.

White passed away only a few days before the second anniversary of Jonathan's demise. He was survived by his daughter, Alexandra. The actor was cremated and is entombed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

By the time of his death, White had appeared on numerous television series, including "Bewitched," where he plays the sycophantic advertising executive Larry Tate, a role for which he would turn out to be best-known both during his life and after death.

He also starred in the films "The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington," "Disney's Snowball Express," and had a notable role in the 1985 version of "Brewster's Millions" starring Richard Pryor.

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