Randolph Mantooth dies: ‘Emergency!’ star was 80
Randolph Mantooth, the actor best known for playing paramedic Johnny Gage in the beloved 1970s NBC drama Emergency!, has died at the age of 80.
Mantooth died on 9 July in a hospice facility in Ventura, California, following a long illness.
He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
His family confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter. He is survived by his wife Kristen and his siblings Donald and Tonya.
Born in Sacramento on 19 September 1945, Mantooth had Cherokee and Seminole heritage on his father’s side and studied at Santa Barbara City College before earning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.
He was discovered on stage there and signed to a Universal contract, beginning a career in television that would define an era.
His breakthrough came in January 1972 when he was cast as LAFD paramedic John Gage in Emergency!, a near-documentary style drama executive produced by Jack Webb that followed the adventures of Squad 51 and their firefighter colleagues.
The show, which ran for five seasons until September 1977, co-starred Kevin Tighe, Robert Fuller, Julie London and Bobby Troup.
Mantooth performed most of his own stunts and the role made him a household name, with the series credited with introducing the profession of paramedics to the wider public.
His cultural footprint during the show’s run was such that rock band The Tubes even namechecked him in their 1975 song What Do You Want From Life?, listing “a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth” among the things every American was “entitled to.”
After Emergency! concluded, Mantooth went on to guest roles in Charlie’s Angels, Dallas, Murder She Wrote, MacGyver, Walker Texas Ranger, Criminal Minds and Sons of Anarchy, and had a notable second chapter in soap operas, appearing in Loving, General Hospital, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and The City.
Throughout his life he remained a committed advocate for firefighters, paramedics and EMTs.
He was 80 years old.
