Veteran performer John Randolph was a Tony Award-winning character actor whose union and social activism in the '40s and '50s caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. The balding performer may not have been a household name, but he was a regular face in movies and TV for over four decades. The son of Russian and Romanian immigrants, ...
How could you not become radicalized during the Depression? You'd have to be an idiot not to be radical with 17 million unemployed. Also, I went to a wonderful college...and the ferment there was extraordinary. It opened up a communist point of view, Socialism, Marxism, Henry George, all that. There's nothing wrong with absorbing new ideas and testing them."
Originally played Frank Costanza in the Seinfeld (1989) episode "The Handicap Spot." After he was replaced by Jerry Stiller, his scenes in the episode were re-filmed with Stiller as well.
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Won Broadway's 1987 Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "Broadway Bound."
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Spent two years of training in the Federal Theater Project in the 1930s.
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Changed his name to John Randolph from Emanuel Cohen in 1940.
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Wife, Sarah Cunningham, died of an asthma attack at the 1986 Oscar telecast ceremony.
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Awarded a 1987 Tony for featured actor in the play "Broadway Bound."
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He was a blacklisted actor during the McCarthy era.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Winds of Kitty Hawk
1978
TV Movie
Alexander Graham Bell
Lucan
1977-1978
TV Series
Dr. Don Hoagland
Heaven Can Wait
1978
Former Owner
Richie Brockelman, Private Eye
1978
TV Series
Mr. Brockelman
Doctors' Private Lives
1978
TV Movie
Irv
Nowhere to Run
1978
TV Movie
Marian's Father
Lou Grant
1978
TV Series
Sid Locke
The Gathering
1977
TV Movie
Dr. Hodges
Kill Me If You Can
1977
TV Movie
Judge Lewis Goodman
Insight
1975-1977
TV Series
Ozzie
Washington: Behind Closed Doors
1977
TV Mini-Series
Bennett Lowman
Nowhere to Hide
1977
TV Movie
Narrator
Loves Me, Loves Me Not
1977
TV Series
Leon
Secrets
1977
TV Movie
Ed Warner
Tail Gunner Joe
1977
TV Movie
Gen. Larkin
Sirota's Court
1977
TV Series
Executive Suite
1976
TV Series
Sy Bookerman
The Bob Newhart Show
1973-1976
TV Series
Junior Harrison
Spencer's Pilots
1976
TV Series
Patterson
King Kong
1976
Captain Ross
Independence
1976
Short
Samuel Adams
The American Parade
1976
TV Mini-Series
Judge J. Waites Waring
All the President's Men
1976
John Mitchell (voice, uncredited)
Medical Center
1974-1976
TV Series
Lt. Col. Mayhill / Dr. Ehren Kranz
Lincoln
1975-1976
TV Mini-Series
Simon Cameron
Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur
1976
TV Movie
Charlie Ross
Everybody Rides the Carousel
1975
Stage 7 (voice)
F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood
1975
TV Movie
Rupert Wahler
Wonder Woman
1975
TV Series
General Phil Blankenship
Great Performances
1975
TV Series
James Mayo
The Runaways
1975
TV Movie
George Collingwood
Adventures of the Queen
1975
TV Movie
John Howe
The Missiles of October
1974
TV Movie
Undersecretary of State George Ball
McMillan & Wife
1974
TV Series
Andrew Brill
Earthquake
1974
Mayor
Kojak
1974
TV Series
Judge Philip Templeton Mackie, Sr.
Ann in Blue
1974
TV Movie
Captain Mulholland
Nourish the Beast
1974
TV Movie
Mario
Lucas Tanner
1974
TV Series
John Hamilton (1975)
Tell Me Where It Hurts
1974
TV Movie
Lou
Columbo
1974
TV Series
The Colonel
Police Story
1974
TV Series
George Morris
Serpico
1973
Sidney Green
Pueblo
1973
TV Movie
Lt. Gen. S.J. McKee
Partners in Crime
1973
TV Movie
Judge Charles Leland
Topper Returns
1973
TV Movie
Mannix
1967-1973
TV Series
Lawrence Corwin / Jason Walker / Clint Houston
All in the Family
1972
TV Series
Joe Peterson
Bonanza
1968-1972
TV Series
Mr. Dawson / Donavan / Doctor Belden
The Judge and Jake Wyler
1972
TV Movie
James Rockmore
The Rookies
1972
TV Series
Howard Price
The Family Rico
1972
TV Movie
Malaks
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
1972
Commission Chairman
Young Dr. Kildare
1972
TV Series
A Death of Innocence
1971
TV Movie
Charles Cameron
Crosscurrent
1971
TV Movie
Frederick Cooper
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers
1969-1971
TV Series
Dr. Paul Schaefer / Judge Stuart Murchison
O'Hara, U.S. Treasury
1971
TV Series
Thomas J. Gault
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
1971
Chairman
A Step Out of Line
1971
TV Movie
Detective Riddle
The Name of the Game
1971
TV Series
Chapman
Little Murders
1971
Mr. Chamberlain
Night Gallery
1971
TV Series
H.E. Pritkin (segment "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar")