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Ted White was born January 25, 1926 and grew up on a ranch near
Snyder Texas. He is a WW2 veteran turned stuntman and actor with over 60 years in
movies. Known as Ted Bayouth in many of his films, White's acting
career began when he played a marine in the 1949 film Sands of Iwo
Jima. He was John Wayne's stunt double in Hatari! in 1962. He played
Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. His last two
films are His Name was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th and
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th where
he played himself.
During World War 2, White fought in the four major amphibious
assaults, with Iwo Jima being his final engagement. “We got pinned
down on the black shifting sands for a long, long time,” he said,
looking back. “And those were a lot of casualties we were taking at
that beach.”
White suffered injuries from a Japanese cement block house blowing
up and the gunfire from the .25-caliber machine gun inside it. He
was taken to the hospital ship USS Comfort and then to a naval
hospital at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Because of his injuries, White
separated from the Marine Corps after six years.
After returning home to
Snyder, Texas, White decided to use his scholarship and play
football for the University of Oklahoma. He met Miss Oklahoma, they
married, and he worked for a glass company. After having two
children, they moved to California, where he started working for a
friend’s car dealership. “I also worked for this airline company –
he owned it, this man – what was his name?- Howard Hughes – for
about eight or nine months,” White said casually, lighting his
cigar.
White has had roles in
several western films and in such television series as Daniel Boone,
The Andy Griffith Show, Hunter, Magnum, P.I. and The Rockford Files,
usually in tough-guy roles such as police officers or hired thugs.
He has also worked in Gone in 60 Seconds, Silverado, Major League,
Starman, and Tron.
In 1984, White played
hockey masked murderer Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th: The Final
Chapter, after the director needed a large man for the part. White
reluctantly accepted because he needed the money. White asked not to
be credited on screen for his part. He was later credited for the
archive footage of him as Jason that was used in the seventh Friday
film. White was offered the role of Jason for Friday the 13th: A New
Beginning and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, but turned them
down. The roles ultimately went to stuntmen Tom Morga and C. J.
Graham, respectively.
Ted White died at his
home on October 14, 2022, at the age of 96.
White’s son and author,
Michael Bayouth, wrote a book about his famous father. He packs In
the Shadow of Giants: True Stories From The Son of a Hollywood
Stuntman with true, bizarre stories of both his father’s life
and his own. You can find it in
Books about Scurry
County People and Places
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