Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Tony Randall
Tony Randall Facts
| Sign | Pisces |
| Born |
Feb 26, 1920 Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Died |
May 17, 2004 New York City, NY |
| Age | Died at 84 |
| Total Facts | 31 |
Jack Klugman and Tony Randall performed together in "Appointment with Adventure" (1955) {The Pirate's House (#1.23)} from the golden age of television 15 years before they did the classic sit-com "The Odd Couple".
11 April 1997: first child born at 12:00am EST, named Julia Laurette Randall. She was named after his mom Julia and actress Laurette Taylor, whom Tony says is "the best actress I've ever seen in my life."
A liberal Democrat, in September 2003 Randall joked in a speech that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would be turned away if they tried to attend his funeral.
A member of the Metropolitan Opera Association from 1972.
An avid art collector, his father was an art and antiques dealer.
Appeared on "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993) a record 70 times.
Attended Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), where he majored in speech and drama.
Avid collector of modern art, opera recordings, and antiques.
Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives," Volume 7, 2003-2005, pp. 444-446. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
Contracted pneumonia following heart bypass surgery in December 2003.
Dropped out of Northwestern University in Illinois, majoring in speech and drama, in order to study acting with Sanford Meisner and dancer Martha Graham at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Later, Tony received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2002 from Pace University.
Father was an art dealer. Mother's name was Julia Finston.
Founder of the National Actors' Theater, New York.
Had taken ballet classes and danced at a semi-professional level.
He was originally cast as the voice of "Templeton the Rat" in the movie Charlotte's Web (1973) without an audition. When Joseph Barbera realised he wasn't right for the voice, they paid him and hired Paul Lynde instead.
Met his wife Heather in a play in New York. She was 50 years his junior.
National chairman of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, which is an incurable neuromuscular disease.
Originated the role of E.K. Hornbeck in the Broadway production of "Inherit the Wind," which ran for 806 performances from April 21, 1955, to June 22, 1957, at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theater). The role was played by Gene Kelly in the 1960 film Inherit the Wind (1960). In 1996, his National Actors' Theater company put on a Broadway revival of "Inherit the Wind" that ran for 45 appearances in 1996. Randall was a stand-in for both Anthony Heald as E. K. Hornbeck and George C. Scott as Henry Drummond, taking over the latter role when Scott had to leave the play. Scott was nominated for a 1996 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the role.
Randall recalls the making of 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) in an interview in the book "A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde" (McFarland & Co., 2010) by Tom Weaver.
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for his contribution to television. (1998).
Second child: Jefferson Salvini Randall, born on June 15, 1998. Named after comic actor Joseph Jefferson and Italian tragic actor Tommasso Salvini.
Studied acting at New York City's prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse, under the direction of legendary acting coach Sanford Meisner.
Studied voice for 32 years but did not act on it, quipping, "I have a nice healthy tone, but it's not terribly musical. If beautiful voices are golden, mine is aluminum.".
Suffered from tinnitus, a chronic ringing in the ears and starred in a Public Service Announcement to encourage diagnosis and treatment for viewers.
The son of an art dealer, he graduated from Tulsa Central High School.
The two children of Felix and Gloria Unger in "The Odd Couple" (1970) were named Leonard and Edna, the real-life names of Tony Randall and his late sister, Edna.
Tony Randall attended Northwestern University for a year before traveling to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. He studied under Sanford Meisner and choreographer Martha Graham around 1935.
Was asked in the 1970s if there had been anyone in his career whom he had really disliked. After saying he hated to criticize the dead, he revealed that he had animosity against the late Ethel Barrymore. As a young actor, he had appeared in a play with her, and he was offended by her imperial manners, which included not making any noise in the vicinity of her dressing room.
Was militantly opposed to smoking.
Was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award five times: as Best Actor (Musical) in 1958 for "Oh, Captain!" and, later, as co-producer with his National Actors' Theater of four nominated plays: as Best Revival, in 1993 for "St. Joan" and as Best Revival (Play) in 1994 for "Timon of Athens"; in 1996 for "Inherit the Wind" and in 1997 for "The Gin Game.".
Won an Emmy Award for the TV series "The Odd Couple" (1970) after the show had been canceled. At his acceptance speech, he said, "Thank you. Now, if I only had a job.".