Ronald Dee White was born on December 18, 1956 in Fritch, Texas, to Charles Don White and Barbara Joan Craig. White served in the United States Navy. According to his own account, White joined the service at age 17 and served on the auxiliary rescue and salvage ship USS Conserver near the end of the Vietnam War. From a young age his dream was to become a comedian. He lived in Mexico for a brief period and bought a pottery factory there before returning to the U.S. to pursue comedy. From January 2000 through March 2003, White toured with Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, and Larry the Cable Guy as part of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour – a show that sold out across the United States in over 90 cities and grossed over $15 million. He made seven guest appearances on Blue Collar TV. In 2005, The WB Television Network aired the pilot for The Ron White Show, a variety show that combined a number of celebrity cameos, cartoons, and sketches. He taped several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell as one of the celebrity judges. White has appeared in the TV showsKath & Kim, Reno 911!, 12 Miles of Bad Road, the films Sex and the City 2 and Horrible Bosses, and a cameo in a Rascal Flatts music video, "Why Wait". White is known for drinking Scotch as part of his act, as well as smoking cigars or cigarettes. He stated during his You Can't Fix Stupid show, "Somebody asked what I was drinking. If the company that made the stuff I was drinking was paying me, I'd have it in their bottle and not mine. But it's the kind of scotch that people drink that are going to die penniless. It's good though!" In 2009, Comedy Central released Ron's stand up DVD Behavioral Problems. In 2010, Ron White and producer Michael Blakey formed Organica Music Group, a label that promotes both emerging and established musicians and comedians. OMG indicated that it would release all of White's future DVDs and CDs. In November 2015, White announced that he was running for President of the United States as an independent candidate in 2016. In 2016, White starred as Phil, veteran road manager for the fictional Staton-House Band, in the Showtime series Roadies.
Personal life
White was married to Lori Brice from 1981 to 1993 and they had one son, Marshall. He was then married to Barbara Dobbs from 2004 to 2008. In 2013, he married singer Margo Rey; as of 2017 the two are no longer together, with White claiming that they were never legally married. On August 6, 2019, a ruling came down in L.A. Superior Court where a judge sided with Rey and declared the couple was in a common-law marriage under Texas law. On September 7, 2008, White was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after an anonymous tip informed Vero Beach, Florida police that White's private plane would be carrying narcotics. He was found to be in possession of 7/8 of a gram of marijuana, which White later described as being "out of marijuana".
Awards and recognition
April 27, 2009 was designated as "Ron White Day" in the State of Texas by Texas legislative officials. White received the Armed Forces Foundation's "Patriot Award" in March 2009 for his work in raising money to help wounded soldiers. He also held benefit shows for Hurricane Katrina relief. White's 2012 comedy album, A Little Unprofessional, was nominated for Best Comedy Album in the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in January 2014.
Comedy releases
Besides the Blue Collar Comedy Tour CDs and films, White has released seven solo projects to date.
