Randy Mantooth
Randy Mantooth was kind of a crush of mine when I was a young girl, but not really. Let me explain. Big sister Lori loved Randy. (FYI, she also loved Michael Landon and Greg Harrison.) Since I looked up to sister Lori, I decided I would love Randy just like her. God, I must have been annoying. The Randy Mantooth pseudo crush came after my obsession with Jon Provost (little Timmy) and his dimples and Jeremy Gelbwaks (the first and best Chris Partridge). My first true love as a double-digit girl was Tony DeFranco. Anyway, back to Randy.
Born Randy DeRoy Mantooth in Sacramento, California on September 19, 1945, Randy has been in the business for more than 50 years. That’s crazy. BTW, he was always listed as Randolph Mantooth in the teen mags. I guess the people at his acting school suggested he change his name. What’s wrong with Randy? Anyway, he decided on Randolph. Sounds snotty to me. I like the name Randy better.
Emergency
Do any of these sayings ring a bell? “Squad 51, this is Rampart.” “Administer two amps Sodium Bicarb.” “Station 51, KMG365.” If so, you were probably a fan of the TV show Emergency just like sister Lori and I were. Lori and I would watch it every Saturday night together. I even remember writing about the show in my diary. So cute. Randy Mantooth started showing up in the teen magazines once he became paramedic John Cage. He and Kevin Tighe (paramedic Roy DeSoto) would travel around in their little red Tonka truck and save people. They had one of the earliest cell phones known to man that they carried around in an orange box. (It was actually a 3502 Biocom Biophone.) I remember how Lori and I used to hang out at our local grocery store (Alpha Beta) because one of the bag boys looked like Kevin Tighe. He wasn’t even a Randy Mantooth look-a-like, but we totally stalked that poor guy.
Post Emergency
The TV show that put Randy Mantooth on the map ended in 1979, but he continued to get steady work. IMDB lists Mantooth with 67 acting credits with his last acting gig in 2013. One would think he was retired then, right? I snooped around his Facebook page and it appears the actor is still quite busy. He said in a video (from July 2020) that he was writing a book, had written a screenplay, and was about to do a play at the Purple Rose in Chelsea, MI as soon as the lockdown lifted. In addition to this, he was also filming a documentary with Kevin Tighe on paramedics. This guy is 75 years old and hasn’t appeared to slow down at all.
Maybe I really do have a crush after all. 🙂
Feel free to check out my Randy pinups at my eBay store.