Randolph Mantooth Performed His Own Stunts On 'Emergency', Received A Few Hundred Dollars As Salary
'Emergency' actor, Randolph Mantooth passed away at the age of 80. Amid this, a look back at when he talked about his fearlessness while acting in the series!
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleRandolph Mantooth was a famous American actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. He was featured in several movies and TV shows. Randolph was initially noticed by a talent agent of Universal Studios, and after that, he moved back to California and bagged opportunities to be featured in several TV projects. While he was already seen in The Virginian and Alias Smith and Jones, in the 1970s, his big break came with the action drama, Emergency.
Randolph Mantooth's role as a paramedic in the show grabbed significant attention, and that further solidified his name in the entertainment world. As Randolph Mantooth passed away, his fans have been looking back at his extensive career. Did you know that the actor used to perform his own stunts on Emergency? Yes! He once talked about the same, and to add to that, he was initially paid a few hundred dollars.
Randolph Mantooth spoke about his experience of working on Emergency
Randolph Mantooth sat for an interview with The Toulcan Times, wherein he talked about his experience of working in Emergency in his 20s. The actor played the role of 'Johnny Gage', a paramedic on the action drama series about a fire station crew and the Los Angeles County Hospital. The show ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1979 on NBC, and Randolph's role was one of the much-loved ones.
Speaking about the same, Randolph said that back then, he had no idea what a paramedic was, as this was not even a thing in the 1970s. The actor mentioned that being a 20-year-old, he had his own style and didn't want to cut his hair short. While he kept his hair long after the show became popular, the fire department was upset with him, which led him to hide from the officials whenever they were on the set. Randolph said:
"When they said I was going to play L.A. County firefighter/paramedic Johnny Gage, the first thing I said was, 'What’s a paramedic?' They didn’t even exist at that time. I didn’t want to cut my hair. You have to understand, I was 20 years old. Once the show became popular, I let my hair grow long, but the fire department was so upset with me; I would always hide from them when they came to the set!"
While in movies, stuntmen are the ones who perform action sequences; for Randolph Mantooth, it was not the case. In the same interview, the actor revealed that they were told about the stuntmen, but on the contrary, for four to five years, only they had to perform the stunts. The scene would be like they would be asked about any particular stunt, and if they would say 'yes', they were asked to prove it, followed by rolling. In Randolph's words:
"All you have to do is tell a 22-year-old kid, 'We’re gonna have the stuntmen do it because we know you can’t.' Don’t tell me that! They got away with that for four or five years; they questioned if we could do it, told us to prove it, and then yelled, 'Roll it!'"
Randolph Mantooth had a very low salary for the hit NBC action drama, Emergency
For those who think the payment for the same series was massive, given that it included self-stunts, it was not the case. The show brought public awareness to EMS and introduced firefighters as public heroes. While the show was a hit, the actors had to work for 15-18 hours a day, which also required them to act in challenging scenes like standing too close to the fire and more. However, according to News & Records, the pay on the show was very low for newcomers like Mantooth and Kevin Tighe.
As per the report from the same publication, for the first year, the newcomers were paid USD 250 per week, which shot up to USD 300 and USD 400 in the next years. The payment was in contrast to James Arness and Mike Connors, who were making USD 1 million per year. However, the newcomers received USD 5K as a bonus when the first season of the show ended. Tighe was upset with the low pay, while Mantooth said that he was still looking at the positive side and the show was a big break for him. Reportedly, towards the end of the show, Randolph was earning USD 7.5K per week.
We wish Randolph Mantooth's fans and family members strength to deal with this tough time!
PC: NBC
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