As a historian of art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Whiteley provided the introduction to "Leonid Pasternak: The Russian Years, 1875-1921: A Critical Study and Catalogue" and put together such handbooks as "Oxford and the Pre-Raphaelites".
Named Moonfleet (1955) as his favorite of the films in which he appeared.
Child actors were presented with an honorary award in the shape of a miniature Oscar in 1954, Jon got one.