Jesco White

Jesco White was born in Bandytown, a tiny community located in the Appalachian Mountains of Boone County, West Virginia, to an unknown family who abandoned him and he was adopted by Donald Ray White (1927–1985), also known as D. Ray White, and Bertie Mae White. White's adoptive father was profiled in the Smithsonian Folkways documentary Talking Feet: Solo Southern Dance: Buck, Flatfoot and Tap (1987) as one of the greatest mountain dancers in the United States.{{cite video|year=1987|title=Talking Feet:Solo Southern Dance:Buck, Flatfoot and Tap|url=http://www.folkstreams.net/film,121|format=Documentary|publisher=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings|location=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=13 February 2015|time=1:12 onward|archive-date=23 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723181819/http://www.folkstreams.net/film,121|url-status=dead}} Following in the footsteps of his father, Jesco's dance style is a subtle mix of tap and clog dancing that is native to Appalachia. After the death of his father, Jesco obtained D. Ray's tapping shoes which he wears while performing. Jesco White's dancing has been featured in at least three documentaries.

White was married to Norma Jean White (née Wilson) from 1974 till her death in 2009{{cite news|title=Obituaries|newspaper=Coal Valley News|location=Madison, West Virginia|date=28 October 2009|url=http://coalvalleynews.com/bookmark/4174997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523023830/http://coalvalleynews.com/bookmark/4174997|archive-date=23 May 2013|access-date=13 May 2015|url-status=dead}} and married Alida White in 2011.{{cite news|title=Jesco White gets married!|newspaper=Coal Valley News|location=Madison, West Virginia|date=23 January 2012|url=http://www.coalvalleynews.com/view/full_story/14986777/article-Jesco-White-gets-married-?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123030341/http://www.coalvalleynews.com/view/full_story/14986777/article-Jesco-White-gets-married-|archive-date=23 January 2012|access-date=18 June 2015|url-status=dead}}

In an undisclosed year, White’s house burned down, destroying $50,000 worth of Elvis memorabilia. White stated that the incident sent him into a state of depression.{{Cite web |last=Stover |first=THE OTHER SIDE: By Jeff |date=2008-07-13 |title=Jesco White: The Dancing Outlaw — The legend lives on |url=https://www.register-herald.com/news/lifestyles/jesco-white-i-the-dancing-outlaw-i-the-legend-lives-on/article_0a45e118-04e8-5312-a567-94cffa2f9d23.html |access-date=2024-01-25 |website=Beckley Register-Herald |language=en}}

In 1985, while finalizing the film Talking Feet, D. Ray, Jesco, and his younger brother Dorsey were involved in a domestic dispute. Steve Allen Rowe used his 12-gauge shotgun to shoot D. Ray once in the chest, Jesco received one neck wound, and Dorsey a single gunshot to the eye. D. Ray was the only fatality of the disturbance, who was reportedly protecting his youngest son during a drunken disagreement.{{cite web|title=Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood|url=http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/d/dancingoutlawiije1.html|website=Film Vault|publisher=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-date=18 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018022851/http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/d/dancingoutlawiije1.html|url-status=dead}}

In April 2009, White was featured in the documentary The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, produced by Storm Taylor and MTV's Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine. The film was premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. White has claimed that his portrayal in the documentary was an act and is not an accurate depiction of the White family.{{cite web|title=MTV Producers Bond Jesco Out of Jail|url=http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/43836817.html?storySection=story|author=WSAZ News Staff|work=WSAZ Channel 3 News|date=29 April 2009|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810140701/http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/43836817.html?storySection=story|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Jesco Out of Jail|url=http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=30178|date=29 April 2009|work=MetroNews, The Voice of West Virginia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314182212/http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=30178|archive-date=14 March 2012|access-date=2015-02-13|url-status=dead}}

The week after the release of Wild and Wonderful, Jesco White and his sister, Sue Bob White, were arrested in West Virginia on suspicion of drug-related crimes.{{cite web|title=Dancing Outlaw Behind Bars|url=http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0904/090428_06b67cfc.shtml|work=WCHS 8 Eyewitness News|date=28 April 2009|author=Hicks, Martin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103044113/http://wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0904/090428_06b67cfc.shtml|archive-date=3 November 2011|access-date=13 February 2015|url-status=dead}} White gave an on-camera interview while in jail and stated that he had been drug-free for 30 years. White said that he is not a bad person and that he was "embarrassed" and "hurt" by the arrest.{{cite video|title=Jesco White Gives Jailhouse Interview After Arrest|publisher=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW7r5ebJry0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/pW7r5ebJry0| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|work=WSAZ Channel 3 News, via YouTube|date=29 April 2009|access-date=13 February 2015}}{{cbignore}} Shortly after his arrest, White was bonded out of jail by the producers of the documentary.{{cite web|title=MTV Producers Bond Jesco Out of Jail|url=http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/43836817.html?storySection=story|author=WSAZ News Staff|work=WSAZ Channel 3 News|date=29 April 2009|access-date=13 February 2015|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810140701/http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/43836817.html?storySection=story|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Jesco Out of Jail|url=http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=30178|date=29 April 2009|work=MetroNews, The Voice of West Virginia|access-date=13 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314182212/http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=30178|archive-date=14 March 2012|url-status=dead}} A month after his arrest, the charges against White were dismissed due to lack of evidence.{{cite news|title='Dancing Outlaw' Jesco White Cleared of Drug Charges|url=http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/45842602.html|work=WSAZ Channel 3 News|date=22 May 2009|agency=Associated Press|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810140531/http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/45842602.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Charges Dropped against "Outlaw"|work=Coal Valley News|author=Keeney, Lawrence|date=May 2009}}

White was first profiled on the Public Broadcasting Service's Different Drummer series. The first of these documentaries was Dancing Outlaw (1991),{{IMDb title|0101655|Dancing Outlaw}} directed by Jacob Young, which featured him at home in West Virginia and gave audiences a glimpse into his troubled life. Young originally came to Boone County in search of D. Ray who had been murdered years prior. The TV series aimed to showcase "the unsung geniuses and charismatic madmen of Appalachian county."{{cite web|last1=Beeson|first1=Ed|title=The Dancing Outlaw makes a run for the West Virginia border|url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-184727-cover-story-the-dancing-outlaw-makes-a-run-for-the-west-virginia|website=Creative Loafing Atlanta|date=16 October 2003|access-date=16 August 2017}}{{cite web|title=Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood|url=http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/d/dancingoutlawiije1.html|via=Film Vault|work=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-date=18 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018022851/http://www.filmvault.com/filmvault/austin/d/dancingoutlawiije1.html|url-status=dead}} The director used this opportunity to unveil Jesco's talent and introduce America to the Dancing Outlaw. Viewers are acquainted with Jesco's three distinct personalities. "The gentle and loving Jesse, the violent and dangerous Jesco, and the extremely strange Elvis."{{cite web|title=Different Drummer: Dancing Outlaw|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101655/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 |publisher=Internet Movie Database|access-date=16 August 2017}} This is the first of many mentions he makes regarding his lifelong struggle with his personality disorder. His admiration of Elvis is apparent in his stage attire and Elvis room within his home which White claims "saved his life from certain doom". The film won an American Film Institute Award and an Emmy for Best Documentary, was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, and was named best public television program in 1992.

Dancing Outlaw II (1999){{IMDb title|0202310|Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood}} (also directed by Jacob Young) chronicles White's trip to Los Angeles to appear in the episode "I Pray the Lord My Stove to Keep" of the sitcom Roseanne as the Elvis impersonating "Dan's Clog-Dancing Cousin".{{cite web|title=I Pray the Lord My Stove to Keep|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688812/|website=Internet Movie Database|access-date=16 August 2017}}

{{Main|The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia}}

The documentary The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009) directed by Julien Nitzberg follows the White Family for one year, according to Mamie White, eldest of D. Ray and Bertie Mae’s children. It primarily consists of first person interviews detailing the poverty, crime, addiction and the ramifications of the coal-mining industry on Appalachian society.{{cite web|last=Owens|first=Jesi|url=http://altdaily.com/63wild-wonderful-poor-trapped-jesco-white-and-family-are-back/|title=Interview: Wild, Wonderful, Poor, Trapped: Jesco White and Family Are Back|website=www.altdaily.com|date=26 November 2010|access-date=16 August 2017|archive-date=17 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817035402/http://altdaily.com/63wild-wonderful-poor-trapped-jesco-white-and-family-are-back/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|last=Jardin|first=Xeni|url=http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/the-wild-and-wonderf.html|title=The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia|website=www.boingboing.net|date=25 May 2010 |access-date=16 August 2017}}

Jesco White provides his voice as the DJ of Rebel Radio in the video game Grand Theft Auto V.{{cite web|url=https://music.mxdwn.com/2013/10/03/news/full-tracklist-for-grand-theft-auto-v-revealed/|title=Full Tracklist for Grand Theft Auto V Revealed -|date=3 October 2013|website=mxdwn.com}}{{cite news|title=Grand Theft Auto V music tracklist, stations revealed|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-grand-theft-auto-v-soundtrack-score-information-released-20130823,0,2072089.story|newspaper=LA Times|date=23 August 2013|author=Roberts, Randall|access-date=29 August 2013}}{{cite magazine|title=Inside the 'Grand Theft Auto V' Soundtrack|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-the-grand-theft-auto-v-soundtrack-20130828|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=28 August 2013|author=Shamoon, Evan|access-date=29 August 2013|archive-date=7 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807153755/http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/inside-the-grand-theft-auto-v-soundtrack-20130828|url-status=dead}} He also makes a cameo in-game as an Easter egg, where the player can find a character depiction of Jesco doing his mountain dance. The easter egg is found in the Alamo Sea region of San Andreas, dancing to an Ozark Mountain Daredevils song being played on a small boombox behind him. Motion capture technology was used to help depict Jesco's unique style of dancing.

• It Came from Trafalgar (2009) directed by Solomon Mortamur{{IMDb title|0425141|It Came from Trafalgar}}
• The film White Lightnin' (2009) directed by Dominic Murphy is very loosely based on the life of Jesco White{{IMDb title|1034419|White Lightnin}}{{cite web|url=http://history.sundance.org/films/5688|title=White Lightnin'|work=Archives |publisher=Sundance Institute|access-date=16 August 2017}}
• Appeared in the Beck video "Loser"
• Is Ga-Ga-Pee-Pap Cuyler in several episodes of the animated television series Squidbillies
• Has cameo as himself in the 2017 film Logan Lucky

Numerous musicians have made tribute songs for Jesco White and the White family. These include:

• Hank Williams III "D. Ray White" on Straight to Hell
• Trailer Bride "Jesco" on High Seas
• The Kentucky Headhunters "Jessico" on Songs from the Grass String Ranch
• Sam Black Church "Jesco (The Dancing Outlaw)" on That Which Does Not Kill Us.... Makes Us Stronger
• Ekoostik Hookah "Dancing Outlaw" on Ohio Grown

Jesco has also been sampled or referred to by numerous musicians, including the bands Ministry, Mastodon, Live, Big & Rich, Əkoostik hookah, Jim Shelley, The Atomic Bitchwax, Headcrash, and Tanner Flowers.

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• {{IMDb name|0924962|Jesco White}}
• ['The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia''] official website

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Category:1956 births

Category:American male dancers

Category:Appalachian culture

Category:Dancers from West Virginia

Category:Folk dancers

Category:Living people

Category:People from Boone County, West Virginia