Emanuel Hirsch Cohen (June 1, 1915 – February 24, 2004), better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor. His mother, Dorothy (née Shorr), was an insurance agent, and his father, Louis Cohen, was a hat manufacturer. In the 1930s, he spent his summers at the Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut, which was the summer home of the Group Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in 1938 in Coriolanus. Randolph joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. He had a small role in the 1948 film The Naked City.
Career
Randolph was one of the last blacklisted actors to regain employment in Hollywood films when director John Frankenheimer cast him in a major leading role in the thriller Seconds in 1966. Randolph was in the original New York stage productions of The Sound of Music (as Von Trapp's butler, Franz), Paint Your Wagon, and The Visit.
In 1979, Randolph had a guest appearance on M*A*S*H as an adjutant army general admiring the culinary prowess of a master chef errantly assigned as a foot soldier in a front unit. From 1979 to 1980, he played Donna Pescow's father-in-law on the television series Angie.
In 1982, he appeared in a first-season episode of Family Ties as Jake Keaton, Steven Keaton's father. In 1985, he played the father of Charlie Partana (played by Jack Nicholson) in Prizzi's Honor. He was a special guest star in the 1986 ABC made-for-TV movie The Right of the People, playing Police Chief Hollander in a town soon allowing all adults to carry handguns.
In 1988, Randolph appeared in a Season 2 episode of Matlock as the head of a crime family in "The Investigation". In 1989, he appeared in two episodes of Roseanne playing Al, Roseanne's dad, who was later revealed to be an abusive parent. Also in 1989, he played Clark W. Griswold, Sr. in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (with Chevy Chase).
In 1990, he landed a regular series role, co-starring as a family patriarch in the NBC comedy Grand, co-starring Bonnie Hunt, and Michael McKean. The series only lasted two seasons, despite a timeslot following NBC's highly successful Cheers. In 1991, he guested in an episode of Married ... with Children entitled "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick".
Randolph co-starred with Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Jeanne Moreau and Lauren Bacall, in the BBC production of A Foreign Field (1993) as a World War II veteran returning to France to find the woman he fell in love with.
Also in 1993, Randolph appeared in the fourth season of the hit television show Seinfeld, as the first actor to play George Costanza's father, Frank Costanza. In the following season, Randolph was replaced in this role by Jerry Stiller.
One of his last film roles was as Joe Fox's grandfather in You've Got Mail (1998).
Death
On February 24, 2004, Randolph died at his home in Hollywood, California, of natural causes, aged 88. He acted until the year before his death.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ <!-- WP:ACCESSIBILITY & MOS:TABLECAPTION -->
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1948
| The Naked City
| Police Dispatcher
| uncredited
|-
| 1951
| Fourteen Hours
| Fireman
| uncredited
|-
| 1964
| Hamlet
| Gravedigger
|
|-
| 1966
| Seconds
| Arthur Hamilton
|
|-
| 1967
| Sweet Love, Bitter
|
|
|-
| 1968
| Pretty Poison
| Morton Azenauer
|
|-
| 1969
| Smith!
| Mr. Edwards
|
|-
| 1969
| Number One
| Coach Southerd
|
|-
| 1969
| Gaily, Gaily
| Father
|
|-
| 1970
| There Was a Crooked Man...
| Cyrus McNutt
|
|-
| 1971
| Little Murders
| Mr. Chamberlain
|
|-
| 1971
| Escape from the Planet of the Apes
| Chairman
|
|-
| 1972
| Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
| Commission Chairman
|
|-
| 1973
| Serpico
| Sidney Green
|
|-
| 1974
| Earthquake
| Mayor
|
|-
| 1976
| Everybody Rides the Carousel
| Stage 7 (voice)
|
|-
| 1976
| All The President's Men
| John Mitchell (voice)
| uncredited
|-
| 1976
| King Kong
| Captain Ross
|
|-
| 1978
| Heaven Can Wait
| Former Owner
|
|-
| 1981
| Lovely But Deadly
| Franklin Van Dyke
|
|-
| 1982
| Frances
| Kindly Judge
|
|-
| 1985
| Prizzi's Honor
| Angelo 'Pop' Partanna
|
|-
| 1985
| Means and Ends
| Bill Henderson
|
|-
| 1988
| The Wizard of Loneliness
| Doc
|
|-
| 1989
| National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
| Clark Griswold, Sr.
|
|-
| 1990
| Sibling Rivalry
| Charles Turner Sr.
|
|-
| 1991
| Iron Maze
| Mayor Peluso
|
|-
| 1997
| The Hotel Manor Inn
| Gus
|
|-
| 1997
| Here Dies Another Day
| Brace
|
|-
| 1998
| A Price Above Rubies
| Rebbe Moshe
|
|-
| 1998
| You've Got Mail
| Schuyler Fox
|
|-
| 1999
| The Dogwalker
| Ike
|
|-
| 2000
| Sunset Strip
| Mr. Niederhaus
|
|-
| 2003
| Numb
|
| (final film role)
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ <!-- WP:ACCESSIBILITY & MOS:TABLECAPTION -->
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1965
| Inherit the Wind
| Rev. Brown
| TV movie
|-
| 1965
| The Patty Duke Show
| Coach
| 1 episode
|-
| 1967
| The Borgia Stick
| Smith
| TV movie
|-
| 1967
| Mission: Impossible
| Alex Morley
| 1 episode
|-
| 1968
| Bonanza
| Doctor Belden
| Episode: "Different Pines, Same Wind"
|-
| 1969
| Hawaii Five-O
| Marty Sloane
| 1 episode
|-
| 1971
| A Death of Innocence
| Charles Cameron
| TV movie
|-
| 1971
| Bonanza
| Donavan
| Episode: "Shadow of a Hero"
|-
| 1972
| Bonanza
| Mr. Dawson
| Episode: "The Sound of Sadness"
|-
| 1972
| The Bob Newhart Show
| Junior Harrison
| Multiple Episodes
|-
| 1974
| Columbo
| Colonel Mayehoff
| Episode: "Swan Song"
|-
| 1974
| Kojak
| Judge Philip Templeton Makie, Sr.
| Episode: "The Best Judge Money Can Buy"
|-
| 1974
| The Missiles of October
| George Ball, Undersecretary of State
| TV movie
|-
| 1975–1976
| Lincoln
| Simon Cameron
| TV miniseries
|-
| 1977
| The Gathering
| Dr. Hodges
| TV movie
|-
| 1981
| The Adventures of Nellie Bly
| Joseph Pulitzer
| TV movie
|-
| 1982
| Family Ties
| Jake Keaton
| Episode: “I Never Killed For My Father”
|-
| 1987
| The Equalizer
| Jack Rattigan
| Episode: "Suspicion of Innocence"
|-
| 1989
| Roseanne
| Al Harris
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1993
| Seinfeld
| Frank Costanza
| Episode: "The Handicap Spot"
|-
| 1996
| Touched by an Angel
| Horace Widdenberg
| Episode: "The Journalist"
|}
References
External links
- In Remembrance: John Randolph
- John Randolph papers, 1921-1998 (bulk 1940-1975), held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- John Randolph (Aveleyman)