Sam White
White was born in Los Angeles on October 16, 1906 to Hungarian-Jewish immigrants. In 1937, he married Claretta Ellis, a studio contract dancer. They were married for 65 years until her death in 2002.
For much of the 1930s, Sam White directed numerous musical sequences in films such as Roberta with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne; Old Man Rhythm with Betty Grable and Buddy Rogers; Top of the Town with George Murphy; and Hooray for Love, with Ann Sothern.
During World War II, White made six training films for the U.S. Armed forces. Also in the 1940s, the feature films he produced and directed included Reveille with Beverly, starring Ann Miller (Frank Sinatra's first film); People Are Funny, starring Jack Haley and Rudy Vallée; The Return of the Vampire, starring Bela Lugosi; The Girl in the Case, starring Edmund Lowe; After Midnight with Boston Blackie, starting Chester Morris; Louisiana Hayride, starring Judy Canova; and Tahiti Nights, starring Jinx Falkenburg for RKO, Columbia, Universal and Paramount Studios.
During the next two decades, Sam directed commercials and produced and directed early television series such as Perry Mason, The Outer Limits, Oh! Those Bells, My Friend Flicka, Boston Blackie, Philip Marlowe, and Big Town, among many others. In 1969 he produced and directed White Comanche with William Shatner and Joseph Cotten. He was also a successful businessman with his production facility in Pioneer Town and commercial real estate ventures in Los Angeles.
Throughout his later years, Sam remained interested in world affairs and traveled extensively as a valued ombudsman for the Directors Guild to cement relations between foreign and American filmmakers. In 1990, the Directors Guild of America published an oral history entitled The White Brothers which tells the history of the family as well as the history of early movie making in Los Angeles.
Sam White, one of the famous White Brothers film and television pioneers, died peacefully at his Encino home just short of his 100th birthday. A retrospective was held in 2003 at the Motion Picture and Television Home where a wall of honor was dedicated to him. His professional memorabilia was positioned alongside those of his renowned brothers, Jack White and Jules White.
Biography from the Wikipedia article Sam White (film producer). Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Part of Crew
Recently Updated Shows
Shifting Gears
Shifting Gears centers on Matt, a stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt's estranged daughter and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.
Cops
COPS follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and various police activities by embedding camera crews with their units. The show's formula adheres to a classic cinéma vérité ethos. With no narration or scripted dialog, it depends entirely on the commentary of the officers and on the actions of the people with whom they come into contact.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
The journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills offers a glimpse inside the world of luxurious wealth and pampered privilege, where being seen and who you know is everything. These women are in the center of it all and they have the mansions, the cars, and the diamonds to prove it. From heiresses to entrepreneurs to a family of child actresses - they deliver the star power and the drama.
Hard Knocks in Season
Hard Knocks: In Season with The AFC North will document the battle for the AFC North crown during the final six weeks of the NFL season, as well as a playoff run for the division-winner and any AFC North Wild Card teams. The 18-time Emmy®-winning series will deliver its signature all-access coverage as it follows the Mike Tomlin-coached Pittsburgh Steelers, who have never been featured on "Hard Knocks" in the history of the series, as well as coach John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens, coach Zac Taylor's Cincinnati Bengals, and coach Kevin Stefanski's Cleveland Browns. Quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields will share the "Hard Knocks" spotlight with Derrick Henry, Ja'Marr Chase, Myles Garrett, TJ Watt, and an array of other AFC North star players.