Randolph Mantooth, ‘Emergency!’ Star, Dies at 80

Randolph Mantooth, the handsome star of the ’70s drama series “Emergency!,” died in hospice care Thursday in Ventura, California, THR reports.

He was 80.

He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2015.

Mantooth played paramedic Johnny Gage on “Emergency!,” a series that helped introduce the concept of pre-hospital, emergency care to the U.S. Paramedics were new when the series launched in 1972 — Mantooth had never heard the term when he was cast — but nearly half the country had access to them by the time it ended in 1979.

Mantooth and his co-star Kevin Tighe, who played Roy DeSoto, were charming leads on a show that did its part to introduce realism to primetime.

It was such a sensation that Mantooth, who performed most of his own stunts on the series, became a teen-magazine staple and voiced the animated version of Johnny Gage on a Saturday-morning cartoon from 1973-1974.

Born September 19, 1945, in Sacramento, Mantooth was one of the last Universal contract players, having been discovered acting in a play.

He made his TV debut in 1970, going on to appear on “The Bold Ones: The Senator” (1970), “The Virginian” (1971), “Alias Smith and Jones” (1971), “Night Gallery” (1971), “McCloud” (1970-1971), “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (1971-1972), and “Adam-12” (1971-1972).

Following 130 episodes of “Emergency!,” he guested on “The Love Boat” (1979), “Battlestar Galactica” (1979), “Charlie’s Angels” (1980), “Fantasy Island” (1981), “Dallas” (1984), “Murder, She Wrote” (1985), “MacGyver” (1991), “Baywatch” (1992), “JAG” (1997), “Walker, Texas Ranger” (1997), “ER” (2000), “Ghost Whisperer” (2010), and “Sons of Anarchy” (2011).

His steadiest work was in soaps, including nearly 400 episodes of “Loving” (1987-1995), nearly 200 of “The City” (1995-1997), and appearances on “General Hospital” (1993), “As the World Turns” (2003-2005), and “One Life to Live” (2007).

He is survived by his second wife, Kristen, and by a brother and a sister.