Actor Randolph Mantooth, best known for playing Johnny Gage on Emergency!, has passed away. He was 80 years old.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mantooth died on Thursday, July 9, at a hospice facility in Ventura, California. His death was confirmed by his brother, Donald Mantooth. It was shared that the actor had been “ill for a number of years and kept getting thinner and thinner.” Along with his brother, Mantooth is also survived by his sister, Tonya.
Randy DeRoy Mantooth was born on Sept. 19, 1945, in Sacramento, California. He frequently moved as a child, later claiming he lived in 24 different states by the time he turned 18. This was because his father, Buck, worked as a pipeline construction engineer, and the job required that his family constantly stay on the move. His mother, Sadie, also worked as a waitress.
Mantooth took an early interest in acting during high school, ultimately winding up at New York’s Americna Academy of Dramatic Arts to study the craft. It was there where he changed his first name to Randolph. While performing in the play Philadelphia, Here I Come, he was noticed by Universal talent scout Eleanor Kilgallen. This resulted in him getting signed to a contract and relocating to Los Angeles to pursue professional acting work in 1970. His early roles at that point included appearing in the TV shows McCloud and Alias Smith and Jones.
Randolph Mantooth Starred Alongside Kevin Tighe on Emergency!
The actor’s breakthrough role came when he was cast as Johnny Gage on NBC’s Emergency!, a medical drama series that debuted in 1972. Mantooth and co-star Kevin Tighe led the ensemble cast, portraying paramedics and firefighters working in the Los Angeles area. It was a big hit for NBC, serving as one of the most popular network shows of its era. It ran for six seasons before concluding in 1977, though the cast returned for several TV movies in the following years.
Mantooth and Tighe remained close friends after the end of the show. In 1978, when Mantooth went home to find his ranch on fire, Tighe was already there, helping to get the animals safely away from the flames. In 2002, Tighe served as Mantooth’s best man for his wedding to actress Kristen Connors; Mantooth was previously married to Rose Parra from 1978 to 1991. Both Mantooth and Tighe were named honorary fire chiefs by the L.A. County Fire Department in 2012.
After Emergency!, Mantooth joined the ABC shows Operation Petticoat and Detective School. He’d later pick up guest-starring roles on many other famous TV programs, including Battlestar Galactica, Charlie’s Angels, The Fall Guy, Diagnosis Murder, L.A. Law, ER, Criminal Minds, and Sons of Anarchy. In 2006, he took over the role of Hal Munson on the soap As the World Turns after original actor Benjamin Hendrickson died by suicide. His feature film roles include Agent Red, Fire Serpent, He Was a Quiet Man, and Scream of the Bikini.
- Release Date
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1972 – 1979-00-00
- Directors
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Georg Fenady, Christian I. Nyby II, Dennis Donnelly, Christian Nyby, Joseph Pevney, Lawrence Dobkin, Kevin Tighe, Randolph Mantooth, Cliff Bole, Herschel Daugherty, Jack Webb, Robert A. Cinader, Hollingsworth Morse
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Ann Morgan Guilbert
Woman In Trouble
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Arthur O’Connell
Mrs. Collins
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Barbara Bosson
Wayne (uncredited)
