Randolph Mantooth, Who Played a Firefighter/Paramedic on 'Emergency!' TV Show, Dies
Television's most famous firefighter/paramedic, Randolph Mantooth, who played John Gage on the 1970s "Emergency!" TV show passed away this week.
He died Thursday, at age 80, in a Ventura, CA, hospice center, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mantooth had been “ill for a number of years," his brother Donald told the Reporter.
“Hollywood lost a tremendous actor, but the fire and EMS service lost one of its greatest friends and advocates," said Firehouse.com co-founder Dave J. Iannone. "Randy Mantooth's legacy isn't only preserved in episodes of 'Emergency!'—it's alive in firehouses, ambulances and EMS stations across the country every single day."
He starred alongside Kevin Tighe, who played Roy DeSoto, on the show that aired from 1972-1977. The duo responded to every emergency immaginable in Los Angeles County Fire Department Squad 51.
Recalling casting for the television show in an interview with Amy Harrington, he told her he asked the producers, "What the hell is a paramedic?"
At the time of the show, there were very few paramedics in the country but the show launched.
Mantooth and Tighe took a paramedic class and shadowed Los Angeles firefighters before filming and were trained to start Ivs.
“When you take life-saving services out of the hospital and into the field, the number of lives that are saved is incalculable,” Mantooth said in an inteview. “The stars just lined up with this show perfectly for a purpose, for a greater purpose.
"Little did I know that the actor I idolized on television would one day become a close friend," longtime Firehouse EMS columnist Gary Ludwig told Firehouse Saturday morning. "There are many memories, including dinners, text messages, phone calls, and visits to Memphis and Champaign, where I was working at the time. Of all those memories, one of my favorites is the two of us, simply sitting outside a bank of elevators in a Las Vegas hotel, having drinks, laughing, talking, and watching the parade of people. Despite his success and recognition, Randy was genuine, kind, down-to-earth, unpretentious, humble, modest, and authentic."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mantooth was born in Sacramento, CA, in 1945. By the time he turned 18, he had lived in 24 states as his father, a pipeline worker, changed job sites often.
In 2000, Iannone organized EmergencyFest during Firehouse.com's infancy.
The wekeend event was held at the Hyattsville, MD, Fire Department station with thousands of fans, firefighters, paramedics and others coming together to meet Mantooth and other members of the cast.
“I had the incredible opportunity in 2000 to host Randy and the cast of 'Emergency!' for a reunion at my own firehouse, with the real Squad 51 there," Iannone said. "Thousands of people came from across the country. Looking back, what strikes me most is that we weren't simply celebrating a television show—we were celebrating the enormous community and legacy that show created.”
In a 2014 "Views From the Jumpseat" blog, Ryan Pennington explained the impact of 'Emergency!' on his career writing: "We all should take the time to sit down and compare our service to Johnny and Roy’s. Is you uniform 'stage ready?' Are you giving the customers 100% awesome care? These questions should be answered on every run we make as there is one glaring similarity to the cast on 'Emergency!' and those of us on the streets today. The cameras are on us!"
Beyond the fame he gained on 'Emergency!,' Mantooth was on several soap operas, including "General Hospital" and "As the World Turns."
About the Author
Peter Matthews
Editor-in-Chief
Peter Matthews is the editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood Landing, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.