De'voreaux White (born Devorea W. Sefas; August 6, 1965) is an American actor. He started his career as a child actor in the late 1970s, and may be best known for his role in Die Hard (1988) as the young limousine driver, Argyle.
Contents
Career
Film and television
White was born in Los Angeles County, California. He began acting professionally at the age of ten.
His first bookings were The Jeffersons, Little House on the Prairie, and 1980's The Blues Brothers (as a would-be-shoplifter who is thwarted by a gun-toting Ray Charles). White also played one of the boys who attempt to keep a baseball in the Neil Simon movie Max Dugan Returns. In 1984, he played Wylie - who was lynched for accidentally shooting a white sheriff - in Places in the Heart. The movie received notice at the Academy Awards; White credits this role for providing an opportunity to read with producer Joel Silver and star Bruce Willis for Die Hard (1988). White filmed his scenes with Willis over a period of three months; some of their dialogue was improvised on the set.
White also starred in the television series Head of the Class as Aristotle McKenzie, and co-starred as a suicidal misfit who befriends Rick Schroder in 1989's Out on the Edge. In 1992, White played the role of Ice-T's drug-addicted younger brother in Walter Hill's Trespass. White appeared in the 2000 drama Shadow Hours.
White reprised his role as Argyle from Die Hard, with Willis, in a commercial for Advance Auto Parts' DieHard brand of car batteries in October 2020.
Other work
White set up his own company in California, helping people rehabilitate from substance-abuse. He also worked as clinical staff at the facility.
Personal life
In 2019, White resided in Newport Beach, California. His original last name, Sefas, is Ethiopian; after his mother died, his maternal grandparents with the surname White adopted him.
Filmography
Film
1979: Aunt Mary as Wally Hazel
1980: The Blues Brothers as Young Guitar Thief
1983: Max Dugan Returns as Boy
1984: Places in the Heart as Wylie
1988: Action Jackson as Clovis
1988: Die Hard as Argyle
1988: Split Decisions as Coop
1992: Trespass as "Lucky"
2000: Shadow Hours as Second Transvestite
2012: Sandbar as Charles Kendall
Television
1977: The Jeffersons as Warren Barnes
1979–1981: Little House on the Prairie as various characters
1981: Quincy, M.E. as Ethan Kellogg
1982: T.J. Hooker as Stevie Pine
1983–1984: Diff'rent Strokes as Glenn
1985: Highway to Heaven as Terry
1986: 227 as Harvey
1989: In the Heat of the Night as Albert Tolliver
1989: Out on the Edge as Lonnie
1989–1991: Head of the Class as Aristotle McKenzie
2014: Workaholics as Uber Driver
2023: Easter as Smiley
2023: Obliterated as Delray
