By the time he was at the end of his college years in San Francisco, he opted to have then-experimental surgery that amputated both legs below the knees, and after a period of recovery he began wearing prostheses.
He completed his studies in Spokane, Washington, where the family had moved as his father held a series of increasingly responsible positions with the Great Northern Railway.
He attended Whitworth College in Spokane for one year, then transferred to San Francisco State University, where he studied drama.
He subsequently enrolled at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York of Columbia University, from which he received a master of divinity (M.Div.)
His books included The Flower That Finally Grew;[4] the play Welcome To Andromeda and Variety Obit,[5] and Disability: A Comedy (New York: Theatre Development Fund, 1983).
"[7] David Richards, theater critic for the Washington Star called Whyte "the most original dramatic voice since Edward Albee."
Horatio was produced at the Loretto-Hilton Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri, 1970; Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., 1974, and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, 1976.
He also wrote the autobiographical play-with-music Funeral March for a One-Man Band, with earlier versions including the title X: Notes on a Personal Mythology.
At the Actors Studio, Whyte wrote a second act for Welcome To Andromeda and the now two-act play was premiered with Ellen Burstyn in the role of the Nurse.
Disability was performed at the Actors Theatre of St. Paul, for which production the play was nominated for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
[10] While serving both as Playwright-in-Residence as well as Coordinator of the Playwrights and Directors Unit (established by Clifford Odets) at The Actors Studio and working directly with Harold Clurman and Lee Strasberg, Whyte organized a 1981 Festival of New Plays that included first productions of works by Ishmael Reed, John Ford Noonan, John Guare, and Christopher Durang.
He also wrote teleplays for several programs including Look Up and Live on CBS-TV and the syndicated series Tales from the Dark Side.
Whyte's archives and papers are in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University.