Arthur White was born in 1933 in Finchley, London, the elder brother of the actor David Jason (born David White). Their mother, Olwen Jones, was Welsh-born; their father was Arthur R White, a Billingsgate fish porter.
Arthur White has worked as a stage and screen actor for decades, with television credits including Crossroads, The Professionals, London's Burning, As Time Goes By and Wycliffe. He is probably best known for his occasional role as police collator Ernie Trigg in the ITV crime drama A Touch of Frost, appearing alongside his real-life younger brother David Jason, who played Detective Inspector Jack Frost.
David Jason took his stage name from a shortened form of "White" combined with his own middle name, Jason, after discovering another actor named David White was already registered with British Actors' Equity.