Y'know, I'm getting a little tired of writing about beloved celebrities who died. Warren Zevon, John Ritter, and now Gordon Jump.
Once in a while you find the perfect marriage of actor to role. Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker. Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowicz. Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce. Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker. Their performances were so strong that we often have a hard time seeing these actors as anybody but the characters they portray.
Such was the case with Gordon Jump. Though he only played Arthur Carlson for four years on WKRP in Cincinnati, he will be forever remembered as "Big Guy", the often bumbling station manager who cowered in the presence of his mother, the station owner. One wonders how much of Arthur Carlson is in The Simpsons' Seymour Skinner.
His was a thankless job. Though his was a funny character, he was used most often as the straight man, a wonderful foil for the ever so neurotic cast of players that surrounded him. The chemistry in that show was vibrant and unmistakable, and he was no small part of it.
In later years he became The Lonely Maytag Repair Man, a role for which he was well suited, but to me he will always be Big Guy.