Gordon Jump (April 1, 1932 - September 22 2003) was an American actor, known for his role as the "Maytag Repairman" in commercials for Maytag brand appliances, from 1989 until his retirement from the role in July 2003.

He is also well-known as the clueless radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati and the incompetent "Piece of Chalief Tinkler" in the sitcom Soap.

In 1957, Jump graduated with a degree in journalism from Kansas State University, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He began his career working at radio and television stations in Manhattan and Topeka, Kansas. In Topeka he did the weather on WIBW-TV in 1959. He was a television producer and on-air personality in Dayton, Ohio, when he decided to move to Los Angeles and study acting.

He took minor roles in television, on such shows as Get Smart, The Partridge Family, The Bionic Woman, and The Rockford Files. He also guest-starred in a number of series, such as the Incredible Hulk (in an October 1978 episode called "Ricky") and in Diff'rent Strokes in a somewhat infamous appearance as a pedophile. After WKRP in Cincinnati folded, Jump hosted the PBS series Make Yourself at Home and taught voice classes, as well as making frequent appearances on the hit television show, Growing Pains. Jump also enjoyed working in theater. In the 1990s, concurrent with his new role as the Maytag Repairman, Jump starred in a short-lived revival of WKRP entitled The New WKRP in Cincinnati. In the ninth and final season of Seinfeld, he played George Costanza's boss at a playground equipment company over two episodes.

Jump was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He died at the age of 71 from pulmonary fibrosis, leading to respiratory failure at his home near Los Angeles, California.

The burly character actor Gordon Jump will probably be best remembered for the role of the radio station manager Arthur Carlson in the TV sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" (1978). This is ironic, since in the first part of his working life he was found either behind a microphone or camera in stints with radio and TV stations in the Midwest, including producing jobs at stations in Kansas and Ohio. Moving to Los Angeles in 1963, he quickly became involved in stage productions with Nathan Hale (I) and Ruth Hale (II), a couple who had opened a small theater in Glendale, California, several years earlier, in order to make ends meet. The Hales preferred the stage to film, and they abandoned Hollywood film hopes when their theater was successful. Others developing their acting talents with the Hales included Mike Farrell (I) and Connie Stevens. Jump always credited Ruth Hale for the real start of his career as an actor, and it has been said that Jump remained most passionate about acting in live theater. He soon started appearing in numerous TV series, including "Daniel Boone" (1964), "Get Smart" (1965), and "Green Acres" (1965). Through his association with the Hale clan, he became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which led to appearances in educational and religious short films produced and directed by Judge Whitaker at Brigham Young University in the 1960s. He played a Mormon bishop in "You Make the Difference", a thoughtful husband in Marriage: What Kind for You? (1967), and even the Apostle Peter in Mormon Temple Film (1969). Ruth was instrumental in getting Jump to give up smoking, and she also admonished him to turn down offers to do beer commercials. To the end of his life, he took his membership in his faith seriously, including its health codes. Gordon remained predominantly a television actor throughout a long career in the arts, but he did appear in some small parts in feature films such as Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). He also had a cameo appearance in Singles Ward, The (2002), a comedy involving young Latter-Day Saint cultural experiences, which was written and directed by Kurt Hale, the grandson of Ruth and Nathan. Beyond his acting career, Gordon produced "Tony Randall Show, The" (1976)and directed an episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" (1978). In the last years of his life, he was readily recognizable as the lonely Maytag Washer repairman in commercials that ran on television for several years starting in 1989. He effectively portrayed Ol' Lonely until retiring from the role just before his death. (The repairman was lonely because the machines never broke down.) As is often the case for actors with a flair for comedy, he was also adept at playing dramatic roles. As is also often the case with character actors, his face is recognizable to many who never knew his name.