Randolph Mantooth, the actor finest recognized for taking part in firefighter-paramedic Johnny Gage on the hit Nineteen Seventies NBC sequence “Emergency!”, has died. He was 80 years previous.
Mantooth died Thursday at a hospice heart in Ventura, Calif., after an extended sickness, his brother Donald Mantooth instructed the Hollywood Reporter.
Donald stated the actor had been “unwell for a number of years and was getting thinner and thinner.”
Mantooth rose to fame in 1972 when he performed Johnny Gage on “Emergency!”, the NBC drama that launched the paramedic occupation to tens of millions of viewers.
He starred alongside Kevin Tighe within the sequence, which ran for six seasons, and carried out most of his personal stunts.
The actor later reprized his position as Gage on exhibits reminiscent of “Adam-12” and remained a longtime advocate for firefighters, paramedics and EMTs.
Mantooth recalled the optimistic reception he acquired from firefighters after the present aired, declaring “Emergency! » the casting “did not wish to give them a nasty picture”.
“They have been so thrilled that they made a present about them,” Mantooth stated in a 2013 interview, in line with the Tv Academy. “As a result of there’s all the time exhibits about cops. There’s all the time exhibits about attorneys and docs. However this is a present about firefighters! I imply, their hair was standing on finish. It is like, ‘Yeah, honey, that is what I do!’
“They took to us effectively as a result of we did not wish to make them look unhealthy. We needed them to look precisely like who they have been: heroes,” Mantooth added. “Now everybody has to have a flaw. It drives me loopy. I do not care what your flaws are. Simply present me what you do. How the work is finished? And really do it. Present me!”
Born in Sacramento, California, Mantooth found appearing by means of faculty performs after his household moved to the Santa Barbara space, in line with IMDb.
He attended Santa Barbara Metropolis Faculty earlier than incomes a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
After being noticed in a stage manufacturing of “Philadelphia, Right here I Come,” he signed with Common and launched his profession in tv.
Earlier than “Emergency!” “, he appeared in sequence reminiscent of “Ironside”, “The Virginian”, “Marcus Welby, MD”, “The Daring Ones”, “McCloud” and “Alias Smith and Jones”.
After the sequence ended, Mantooth continued appearing for many years, showing in “Dallas,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat,” “Prison Minds,” “Ghost Whisperer” and “Sons of Anarchy.”
He additionally appeared extensively on daytime tv, taking part in Clay Alden and later Alex Masters in “Loving”, Richard Halifax in “Basic Hospital” and showing in “One Life to Reside”, “Because the World Turns” and “The Metropolis”.
Mantooth’s “Loving” co-star Rena Sofer mourned her “pricey buddy” and mentor, who “took me below his wing.”
“I’ve a lot to say about him, a lot love for him that I’m speechless,” Sofer posted on Instagram Friday night. “This man got here into my life once I was 18 and by no means left. He took me below his wing as he did with a lot of the younger actors he met. He handled me with respect and kindness however above all with friendship.
“We now have been buddies perpetually and I cherish each second I spent with him. He was a buddy to many, a really nice buddy.”
Mantooth is survived by his spouse, Kristen, and his siblings, Donald and Tonya.