A sad good-bye to Tony Randall. I once went to a taping one of his TV series “Love Sidney,” and was impressed by his confidence and professionalism. Also saw him in a touring company of “The Odd Couple,” him and Jack Klugman. Also encountered him in the streets of New York many years ago and chatted with him for a minute. Always wished we could have done lunch or something, but never had the chance. And I’ll never forget his two line acceptance speech after winning the Emmy for Best Actor in a Comedy…after Klugman had scored it several years in a row, and when the show had just been cancelled. It was something like, “I’m very pleased I won. Now I just wish I had a job.”
The ones I feel the worst for are his kids, who won’t have a daddy as they’re growing up. Seems unfair somehow.
I think I’ll put on my laserdisk (yes, I still have some) of my favorite Randall work of all time: The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao.
PAD
• 
My first thought was about his poor kids. I know he had some young children from a marriage not so very long ago. So many are gone that were on shows I used to watch when growing up. When they pass away does a part of me mourn for my lost childhood?
Karen,
I know I partially mourn for my lost childhood when someone I was so familiar with – granted, on TV and not in person – dies.
My favorite football player was Walter Payton. He’s gone. One of my favorite athletes – no, people – to watch, was sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner. They were both taken FAR too young, and I always wish I had met them and told them how they inspired me.
The example that is most recent and hits closest to home was a couple years ago in Philadelphia, there was anchorwoman named Siani Lee who had been at one of the local newstations for a while. She was an extremely attractive, fortysomething Asian woman. She made the list of Most Eligible Singles. At one point, I decided i was going to take a shot and ask her out, and a columnist friend of mine encouraged me, agreeing that she was a cool person.
Then, I found out she finally got a steady boyfriend. It didn’t matter. I still just wanted to tell her I thought she was cool.
I thought about sending her a card, just to say thank you for, you know, being so cheerful and restoring some of my faith in the news business (she was very philanthropic). But I never got around to it.
Finaly, she was scheduled to appear at an event close to my neighborhood. I was finaly going to meet her, and tell her how cool I thought she was!
Three days before the event, she couldn’t see an idiotically obscured STOP sign at an intersection and was killed in a car accident.
I should have sent the dámņ card.
That’s why whenever I get the opportunity to talk to people like Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and William Shatner ad even meet people like Patrick stewart and PAD, I always make a point to let them know what I think of them (and, of course, i do that with friends and family, too).
As PAD stated in his foreword to “Imzadi” which was a partial tribute to gene roddenberry, who had recently passed:
“The amount of time we have on this sphere to accomplish what we want is always limited, no matter how much we like to pretend otherwise. That’s something always to be kept in mind.”
Hail and farewell, Tony Randall.
Congratulations on being the first newsperson, columnist, or blogger I’ve seen to remember The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao in their memorials to Randall–CBS didn’t, MSNBC didn’t, Eric Alterman didn’t, even Mark Evanier didn’t. I too remember that film fondly as one of Randall’s best performanaces.
I remember when my mother showed me the movie. I was saddened when I clicked on the news and saw it. Tony, you’re already missed.
Coincidentally for me, I had just happened to be skimming the old But I Digress trade paperback that came out ten years ago or so now. And I read what is probably my favorite BID column … the one about Superman and the power of myths (that also doubled as an homage to Bill Mantlo). Many Faces of Dr. Lao is mentioned in that column.
Randall’s death is saddening. I may be betraying my low-brow tastes when I admit that one of my favorite Tony Randall performances is in “Gremlins 2.” He does some really hilarious voiceover work in that.
Jack Klugman’s touring one-man show, “An Evening With Jack Klugman” is in Milwaukee this Friday. I do believe I’ll go check it out. If anyone from the Milwaukee area is also reading this and is interested … here’s a bit more about it:
http://www.shepherd-express.com/shepherd/25/20/night_and_day/critics_choice.html (scroll down to the Theatre/Dance section).
I saw him in Ðámņ Yankees in Houston several years ago. He was cool.
I’m sad now.
Jerome Maida posted:
I should have sent the dámņ card.
That’s why whenever I get the opportunity to talk to people like Joss Whedon, Stan Lee and William Shatner ad even meet people like Patrick stewart and PAD, I always make a point to let them know what I think of them (and, of course, i do that with friends and family, too).
I have a story like that:
The Ramones are one of my favorite bands ever. Despite working in music journalism for several years and having friends in a band (The Independents) that was managed by Joey Ramone, I never got a chance to meet him.
And then…
I went to New York City for the CMJ festival/seminar. The Independents were playing as part of the festival. I go to the club where they’re playing, but I’ve already missed them on stage.
But there, standing in the club, not five feet away from me, is Joey Ramone.
I want to say something, but I don’t know what. And I let my friend talk me out of it when he said, “what are you going to say? You don’t want to just be some fan, he gets that all the time.”
So I thought: “well, let me see if the band comes back out into the club, then I can get introduced and not just be some fan.”
But they didn’t. And I left without saying anything.
And then he died before I ever got another chance.
I so regret that.
I had another, similar incident with “Weird Al” Yankovic at the South By Southwest conference in Austin, but thankfully, I got a chance later to interview him on the phone, and still later, to go backstage at a show in Tampa and finally meet him in person. And I’ve also gotten to meet the likes of Chuck D, Ice-T, Exene Cervenka, and too many others. I even interviewed John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants (my all-time favorite band) so many times that he got to know me by name. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities and lucky experiences.
But I still regret not talking to Joey. Dammit.
Julio Diaz,
Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you at least got a second chance with “Weird Al”.
On one hand, it’s sad that his children have to grow up without a father. On the other hand, when Tony turned fifty, his wife hadn’t even been born yet. When someone has kids after they turn seventy, it’s not like this situation should come as a surprise.
Varjak – my opinion exactly. I lost a lot of respect for Randall when he married someone half his age. Granted, it was nice that he “found love” in his latter years, but….
Kathy Maddux Pearlman,
But what? The kids issue I can see. But where is it written that someone has to fallin love with someone their own age? And why on earth would you lose respect for them? Especially if they’re not hrting anyone?
I understand your point, Varjak, and I do tend to agree that is IS rather selfish to have kids in your 70s. However, the only 70-year-old dudes who are gonna nail some piece-of-a** half their age are ones who are staggeringly rich, so at least their kids will never have any financial worries. Hëll, MY father died at age 40 when I was just 5, and we basically got zilch. If I was gonna lose a father-figure at an early age, anyway, I’d just as soon he be an 84-year-old geezer and leave me well-compensated. Ironically enough, in about 45 minutes Randall’s widow will be appearing on Larry King Live, a show hosted by another ancient coot married to trophy wife #8 (#9? #10?) who’s spitting out brats left and right. I wonder if Larry will be pointing out the parallels…?
I think the real surprise, though, is that Randall went BEFORE Klugman! There hasn’t been this kind of a dead-pool upset since Ray Waltson (sp?) outlasted Bill Bixby!!
Shortdawg,
I find the whole idea of a “dead pool” tasteless. Bt then, so was about 95% of your post. Bill Bixby’s death was a tragedy, not something to play a game with.
Let’s show some respect.
i know he had a long and full life
but i am still saddened by this news
and it is unfair to his kids
my heart goes out to to them and his wife
I may be the only one who reads this website who remembers or even cares, but Tony Randall played an Englishman named Reggie York on a great radio show called “I Love A Mystery.” They had broadcast the show some years earlier with different actors, but they re-did the programs and Randall played Reggie. I wouldn’t have recognized his voice if he weren’t listed in the credits. I always hoped I’d meet him someday to ask him about that. Never did, though. He was a versatile and talented man and left an impressive body of work.
Before everyone gets too worked up about the differenc in ages between Tony Randall and his widow, I think it should be mentioned that he himself was widowed from an earlier marriage. As I understand it, he didn’t remarry for many years because he was so in love with his first wife. If he finally found someone to love again, and who loved him in return, I say more power to his memory, regardless of age differences.
Um, from what I’ve seen in the various stories due to his death, Tony Randall had a decades long first marriage to a woman presumably in roughly the same age bracket who died around 10-20 years ago (and they were still married at that time). His second marriage occured around 10 years ago, and they were still married. His first marriage did not result in any children.
I’m personally also not thrilled with the concept of someone becoming a parent at age 70+ (well, maybe with an exception for Strom Thurmond, who did live long enough for those kids to grow up :-)); I lost my own father at age 11 when he died at age 50. And I expect that I won’t have any biological children, since for my own various reasons I can’t see having any for at least five years, at which point I’d be 48-9, and consider the mid-60s to be pushing it for when my kid would become an adult.
But, it hardly appears that Mr. Randall was going through trophy wives, or even just wives, ala Larry King. And it certainly is possible for there to be a good and happy marriage between folk of fairly widely separated ages. A mutual friend of mine and Peter’s married his fifth wife when he was 52 and she was about 26; they’ve now been married for close to 20 years, and it’s clearly and honestly a case of love.
I don’t think anyone here can claim to have known Tony Randall well enough to judge whether his second marriage was a “trophy” or “sugar daddy” scenario. Other than their ages, there’s no particular evidence to indicate that either party approached in that way, and his long first marriage would seem to indicate a good chance of it not being a trophy situation.
For Jason Powell and others who might have been planning to see the Jack Klugman, I’m afraid I just heard on the radio that he cancelled the remaining shows on his tour upon hearing of Tony Randall’s passing.
“I may be the only one who reads this website who remembers or even cares, but Tony Randall played an Englishman named Reggie York on a great radio show called “I Love A Mystery.” They had broadcast the show some years earlier with different actors, but they re-did the programs and Randall played Reggie.”
Ah yes, Jack, Doc and Reggie. I’ve never had a chance to hear Randall in the role, but will seek them out when I had a chance.
They made a ghastly TV movie of ILAM some years back, with a pre-“Good Morning America” David Hartman starring.
PAD
Tom writes: “A mutual friend of mine and Peter’s married his fifth wife when he was 52 and she was about 26; they’ve now been married for close to 20 years, and it’s clearly and honestly a case of love.”
Yeah, but really– he’d pretty much gone through his game limit by that point, wouldn’t you say? There are zip codes with fewer people than the ladies he dated.
I do fondly remember ILAM (though Randall didn’t think much of his radio work, from what I hear) and Doctor Lao and Rock Hudson films and “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” and the Odd Couple and, way back, on German television, “The Tony Randall Show” (where he played a single-parent judge – I may well misremember). I always liked seeing him very much.
As I saw the thread for Tony Randall, I wondered if anyone would mention his work on I Love a Mystery as Reggie York.
There were two versions of ILAM, the original Hollywood broadcasts and the decade-later New York broadcasts. Randall was part of that later cast, along with Russell Thorson as Jack Packard, Jim Boles as Doc Long and the late, great Mercedes McCambridge in various female roles.
Here are some links about ILAM, including some background on the characters:
http://www.angelfire.com/on/ilam/cast.html
http://www.angelfire.com/on/ilam/MBS.html
http://www.angelfire.com/on/ilam/intro.html
As to hearing Tony Randall as Reggie, the episodes “The Thing that Cries at Night” and “Bury Your Dead, Arizona” were released on audio tape in a six tape set several years ago, and while out of print, could probably be found at one of the various old-time radio conventions around the country, or perhaps on eBay.
The episode “The Richards’ Curse” is also available on tape.
By the way, PAD, I have extra copies of “The Thing that Cries at Night” and “Bury Your Dead, Arizona” (no case to hold the tapes, however), if you’re interested in them.
Rick
I remember one Tony Randall performance that impressed me largely because he agreed to do it: himself, in Scorcese’s THE KING OF COMEDY. If you remember the film, he was obliged to play Tony Randall the hostile, angry, arrogant, abusive, and spoiled celebrity. I remember thinking, gee, he must be different from all those things if he has sufficient sense of humor to portray himself that way…
PAD wrote: “I think I’ll put on my laserdisk (yes, I still have some) of my favorite Randall work of all time: The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao.”
I always enjoyed Randall’s work, and I also am a fan of “The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao” — though for slightly different reasons. Randall’s six-role performance was impressive, but I was originally drawn to the film by Jim Danforth’s stop-motion animation. I’ve been a fan of stop-motion for more than 35 years, and back in 1974, I even did an EC-type strip about stop-motion title “Death Motion.” The main character of the strip was one “Harry Rayhausen,” who looked a tad bit like legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (imagine that!). In any case, “Doctor Lao” was a real bonus because it was an enjoyable, fun film in its own right — mostly due to Randall’s great performance.
Russ Maheras
The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, btw, will be the first movie in the TR marathon that TCM shows next week.
–Adam
First off, let me say that I have always liked tony randall. I enjoyed him in “The Odd Couple”, and almost everything else he has appeared in.
That said, I was a bit suprised, and upset, to learn a few years ago that he decided to have a child at his age. It is all well and good for he and his wife to be happy, but he was practically insuring that his child would spend some key formative years of his/her life without a father (general maximum age for males is 75, although we all wish to beat the odds).
I do hope that his widow will help to fill the void that may be left in the life of her children with the absence of their father.
Finally, with all due respect; Rest In Peace, Mr. Randall.
“For Jason Powell and others who might have been planning to see the Jack Klugman, I’m afraid I just heard on the radio that he cancelled the remaining shows on his tour upon hearing of Tony Randall’s passing.”
Curses. Thanks for letting me know! I guess I would have found out when I tried to call for tickets, but …
Ah well. I should have seen it on opening weekend, I guess. Rats.
Jason
Tony Randall and his family were regulars on Fire Island (it’s not all gay out there – it was in a more family-style neighborhood)
There are no cars out there, so people mostly walk or take bicycles to get around. When you’re walking and someone is coming up behind you on a bicycle, the protocol is for them to say “On your right” or “On your left” so that you can move to the other side of the sidewalk.
One glorious weekday morning two summers ago, I was strolling along the nearly deserted sidewalk, enjoying the day and I heard a deep, almost melodious voice behind me. “On your right”
I turned around- the voice was that striking and saw a familiar face. It happened so fast that for a moment, I couldn’t imagine where I knew him from – could this be a friend of my parents I thought. So, not wanting to be impolite I said, enthusiastically “Hi! How are you?!”
He smiled hugely and said “Good morning! I’m good! And you?”
That’s when i realized where I knew him from. Tony Randall passed by with a laugh and a wave, looking jaunty and fit and not at all old.
I would have told him how great I thought he was, but I think my enthusiasm and surprise and delight at seeing him delighted him just as much.
Loved Tony in everything he did, from the old Rock Hudson-Doris Day comedies to “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter” to Odd Couple to Dr. Tao.
And he was also great in a recent cameo in “DOWN WITH LOVE”, a spoof of those great old 20th Century Fox comedies.
I’ve met quite a few celebrities in my time at MTV, but none inspired the honest enthusiasm I felt when Tony rode past me that day.
David
“Pillow Talk” and “Lover Come Back”…sigh….They just don’t make them like that anymore…And so he has a place in history forever more…
I am saddened by all the judgemental people who would condemn Tony Randall for his decision to have children at a relatively late time in his life. I lost my dad when I was three years old so I know what the absence of a father can be like. However, I do believe there are some mitigating factors in Randall’s life.
I’m 50 years old so the technology for preserving my dad on film wasn’t advanced. We do have a few old silent films but nothing like the camcorders of today. People can now preserve their legacy so their descendents can now see them as they lived.
Randall was also a star of a highly-regarded and continually rerun television series that his children will see throughout their lifetimes.
Randall was financially well off and not subject to the constraints of a 9-5 job or having to constantly look for film/theatre/TV work so he was able to spend more time with his children than most parents. I understand that he took them to school every morning, took them to the opera and the library, etc. I think he might have spent more time with them in their young lives than many kids spend with their parents during their first 10-15 years.
I think the measure of your life can be taken when people are not only sincerely saddened by your death but can recall you with humor and affection. I will never forget watching reports of James Cagney’s death on TV and seeing the spontaneous applause that broke out when the coffin was transferred from the church to the hearse. How great is that?
Well done, Tony Randall!
Kathy Maddux Pearlman,
But what? The kids issue I can see. But where is it written that someone has to fallin love with someone their own age? And why on earth would you lose respect for them? Especially if they’re not hrting anyone?
For me, it’s not so much the age (although I still find it quite odd), but it’s the situation in general.
I read that Randall was married for 54 years, and before long he’s shacked up with somebody else.
To me, atleast, the concept is a little mind boggling.
And to top it off, then he decides to have kids.
I, for one, wasn’t “condemning” Tony Randall. I just said I felt sorry for the kids, and it seemed unfair they’d grow up without a dad. Hardly what I would call a blistering condemnation.
PAD
For whatever it’s worth, I wasn’t intending to condemn Tony Randall for the second marriage. To each their own, and if they were both happy, great for them. I just–Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but when a woman marries a rich guy three times her age, I can’t help but wonder. But I truly don’t know what goes on in their heads, and if they were both happy, great. Besides, if I’m rich when I’m 70, I imagine I’ll have a different opinion on the matter than I do now.
Craig, it’s not at all uncommon for people in their late 60s and up to seemingly marry quickly after the death of their (long-time) spouse. By quickly, I mean within 2-4 years. I’d guess they’re rather aware that at best they don’t have that many years left, and at worst they could go any time. It took my mother 6 years to remarry after my father’s death when she was in her 40s, but now that she’s in her 70s, it wouldn’t surprise or dismay me if she married within two years of my stepfather’s death (complicated by his currently being in a home due to relatively advanced Alzheimer’s, so while her religious beliefs probably won’t allow her to date until he actually dies, it wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t start subconsciously noting possibilities).
I was originally drawn to the film by Jim Danforth’s stop-motion animation. I’ve been a fan of stop-motion for more than 35 years, and back in 1974, I even did an EC-type strip about stop-motion title “Death Motion.” The main character of the strip was one “Harry Rayhausen,” who looked a tad bit like legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (imagine that!).
Well, I guess I have to now admit that I am, at best, only the SECOND biggest fan of stop motion animation here.
Did you ever try to actually DO it? I did some painfully bad claymation dinosaurs with my beloved Chinon super 8 camera…days of work for a few precious seconds of motion. It taught me the value of patience.
I’m sure that most kids today would bust a gut laughing at the “crude” effects of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS or THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. Their loss.
Russ,
By coincidence, heres an interview posted up today with ray himself:
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17618
Bill M. wrote: “Did you ever try to actually DO it? I did some painfully bad claymation dinosaurs with my beloved Chinon super 8 camera…days of work for a few precious seconds of motion. It taught me the value of patience.”
YES!!! Once that I can be sure of — and I still have that bit of Super 8 film. In the short sequence, a plastic tyrannosaurus “walks” (it wasn’t clay — I just sort of waddled it forward, frame-by-frame) towards a toy pickup truck, and then the truck speeds off camera. Of course it was all jerky — but it looks funny as hëll!
We also did a bit where we filmed each other climb up on a garage roof and then jump off. While the jumper was in midair, the cameraman stopped the camera, and then after the jumper scrambled out of the frame, the cameraman started the camera again. The end result? It looked like the jumper vanished in midair. It was a blast!
Russ Maheras
Russ,
This is a riot, I could dig up a few reels of super 8 film that are EXACTLy what you describe! We even shot a few scenes from a Spiderman parody and the inevitable zombie epic. Only two people showed up so we had to improvide. The hero would say something like “hey look! There’s 2 zombies!” bang! Bang! then “Hey look! There are two more of them!” Sure, a careful examination of the scene might have revealed that all of the zombies were played by the same two actors…but really, don’t all zombies pretty much look alike?
The funny thing is that now I’m shooting videos with my kids and they are pretty much the same thing, only with much much better effects (THANK YOU, Adobe After Effects!”
Tony Randall:
In this age of celebrity, when actors rely on publicists for image control, Tony Randall was joyfully himself, secure in his own intellect and interests. Sharply opinionated and funny, he had the courage not only to express himself, but the talent to do the things that he loved.
Love isn’t predictable. Lucky is the person to find love at any age. Wise is the person who sees beyond what others consider to be appropriate age limits and can grasp the love that he finds. Thank God he found Heather Harlan, and thank god she wasn’t the sort to be let herself be limited by what others thought. They were terrific together.
I don’t think ‘those poor kids,’ no, not at all. HOW LUCKY they were to have a father like Tony Randall, who no doubt gave them love and warmth and creativity that will be with them always. True, I wish he could’ve lived longer. But how fortunate he was, and they were, to have him as a father and as the spirit that will guide them always.
I don’t know how anyone could toss a hard moral line on love, or a decision of a responsible man who loves his wife, to have children. Lots of children have been born under lesser circumstances.
From a tape of Tony Randall on Larry King.
“My wife says, ‘I’m pregnant.’ I begin to anticipate. A new bud is opening within my heart, within my soul, my spirit. And this flower — it’s as if this is what I was waiting for all my life. My only fear is that I won’t live long enough to be a father or selfishly that I won’t live long enough for them to remember me. But that’s all. That’s almost sentimental. The joy is now. To look at that face, to hear that voice, kiss her. There’s no such pleasure on earth.” -Tony Randall (who passed away at age 84) on having kids at age 77.