During the 1970s, television was hit by a trend of “docu-action” series that told the stories of first responders. That trend has survived to the present, evident in series such as “9-1-1” and its spinoffs.
The show that sparked this trend was “Emergency!” Premiering in 1972, the series was set in Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, following two paramedics from Rampart Hospital as they respond to crises: Roy DeSoto (played by Kevin Tighe) and Johnny Gage (Randolph Mantooth).
Randoph Mantooth Has Passed at Age 80
Sadly, Mantooth passed away on July 9 at the age of 80.
Mantooth was born September 19, 1945, in Sacramento, California. After discovering a passion for acting early in his life, he decided to pursue it professionally after studying drama in college.
“I was always interested in acting on a dogmatic level because I was always acting anyway,” Mantooth recalled in a 2013 interview with the Television Academy. “I hated being the new kid in town … so I would always act like I’d been there for a long time.”
‘Emergency!’ Was Randolph Mantooth’s Big Break
GettyMantooth began landing TV roles in 1970, appearing in such series of that era as “The Virginians,” “McCloud” and “Night Gallery.”
In 1971, he was cast as paramedic Johnny Gage in police drama “Adam 12.” That role led to co-headlining his own series, with his character spinninnf off into “Emergency!” in 1972. The series proved to be wildly popular with viewers, and ran until 1979.
As TV Insider noted in its obituary of the actor, at first he was far from familiar with the profession that he would come to define on television.
“First thing I said was, ‘What the hell’s a paramedic?’” he said in that interview with the Television Academy. “Because at that time, there weren’t paramedics. There were only 13 in all of California at that time, and nobody had ever heard of them before.”
He Continued Acting After ‘Emergency!’
After “Emergency!” concluded in 1979, Mantooth continued his acting career. Initially, this was a guest star in numerous television series, including “The Love Boat,”“Charlie’s Angels” and various others.
Mantooth’s next chapter, however, wouldn’t take place in primetime television, but in a daytime soap.
He Spent Nearly a Decade on Soap Opera ‘Loving’
From 1987 until 1995, Mantooth portrayed Alex Masters on “Loving” a daytime soap.
Then, from 1995 until 1997 he portrayed the same character in a spinoff soap, “The City.”
“I was playing a villain with a heart, and they said, ‘Now, we like you as a hero with an edge,’” Mantooth told the Television Academy of his character changed from one show to the other. “I loved the people I was working with. At that time, I was divorced so I’m single, I’m around all these beautiful women, I’m getting paid, and I’m in New York, and I can do theater. It was a dream.”
After the cancellation of that soap, Mantooth remained a frequent TV guest star, but returned to the world of soaps for a multi-episode stint on “As the World Turns,” making more than 30 appearance between 2003 and 2005.
His Final Screen Role Was in 2013
Throughout the 2000s, Mantooth remained active as a TV actor, appearing in series ranging from Dick Van Dyke‘s CBS whodunit “Diagnosis Murder” to the gritty biker-gang drama “Sons of Anarchy.”
He stepped away from acting in 2013, after revealing that he’d been diagnosed with cancer.
Mantooth is survived by his wife of 23 years, Kristen Connors, his loving wife of 23 years, and siblings Donald and Tonya.
