Actor Peter White was a well-known and respected actor for many decades. His career spanned theater, soap operas and movies. Some of his most notable credits include “All My Children,” “First Daughter,” “Sisters,” “Dallas,” “The Colbys,” “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Dave,” “Thirteen Days,” and “Armageddon.”
Sadly, White died on November 1, 2023. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, having confirmation of his death from his “All My Children” costar Kathleen Noone. Reportedly, he was at his home in Los Angeles at the time of his death. The cause of death is listed as “complications from melanoma” on IMDB.
Rest In Peace Peter White. The multi soap vet has passed at the age of 86. White was perhaps best known for being the 4th actor to play Lincoln “Linc” Tyler for 6 stints, spanning from 1974-2005. pic.twitter.com/tjn4Yv81lx
— All My Children (@_AllMyChildren) November 5, 2023
White’s very first acting credit was in 1954 for the TV series “The Secret Storm,” but his career really took off in the 1960s and 1970s. It was around this time that he dared to take on a role that he was at first nervous to accept out of fear it would hurt his career.
In 1968, White starred as Mart Crowley in the Off-Broadway premiere of the play “The Boys in the Band.” The play was daring for the time because it was about a group of gay men who attended a birthday party.
In 2008, White told Soap Opera Digest why he was nervous about accepting the role. He explained, “Things were sort of really moving for me; I was doing so well, and I thought, ‘I don’t need this kind of risk.’” He continued, “I talked to Myrna [Loy] — she became my mentor — and she said, ‘Peter, if you are going to be an actor, you are going to have to take some risks in your life.’”
The risk definitely didn’t hurt White’s career. In fact, he went on to reprise the role of Crowley in the movie adaptation of the play in 1970.
Along with everyone else involved in the play, White was shocked at how well the play was received. He explained, “Opening night, none of us knew what we had. We all just thought, ‘It’s a play, it’s something new, it’s different and it’s good.’ It was a 100 percent gay audience — and then the next day, it went crazy! We got a call to come to the theater early, because there was such a crowd around the theater, you couldn’t get near it.”
