John Randolph (actor)

Emanuel Hirsch Cohen, better known by the stage name John Randolph, was an American film, television and stage actor.

Early life

Randolph was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City on June 1, 1915, the son of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania. His mother, Dorothy, 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.
He and wife Sarah Cunningham were blacklisted from working in Hollywood films and in New York film and television and radio after 1948. In 1955, they were both called before the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify concerning ongoing investigations regarding Communist infiltration in the American entertainment industry. Both he and his wife refused to answer questions and cited the Fifth Amendment protection against testifying against themselves.

Career

Randolph was one of the last blacklisted actors to regain employment in Hollywood films when director John Frankenheimer cast him in a major role in Seconds in 1966. Randolph was in the original New York stage productions of The Sound of Music, Paint Your Wagon, and The Visit.
He made his last Broadway appearance in 1991 in Prelude to a Kiss.

Film and television

Randolph made numerous screen and television appearances in secondary roles. He played Chief Sidney Green in Serpico, directed by Sidney Lumet. From 1973 to 1976, he made three appearances as Cornelius "Junior" Harrison, Jr., father of Emily Hartley, in The Bob Newhart Show.
In 1974, he played an Air Force Colonel in the Columbo episode "Swan Song". He played a mayor in Earthquake, a disaster film. In 1975, Randolph was cast as General Philip Blankenship in The New Original Wonder Woman pilot. He was replaced by Richard Eastham in the television series.
In 1975, Randolph took over the role of the principal of fictional Harry S Truman High School in the series Lucas Tanner starring David Hartman. He was with the series for the last half of its single season. He had an uncredited role in the 1976 film All the President's Men as the voice of Richard Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell.
He played Judge J. Waties Waring in "With All Deliberate Speed", a 1976 episode of CBS's mini-series The American Parade, dealing with events culminating in the 1954 Supreme Court decision barring racial segregation in American public schools.
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 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.
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 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.

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

Television

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"
1993	Seinfeld	Frank Costanza	Episode: "The Handicap Spot"
1996	Touched by an Angel	Horace Widdenberg	Episode: "The Journalist"