Emergency! star Randolph Mantooth has passed away at the age of 80. As reported by TMZ, he had been battling numerous cancers.
His brother, Donald, said to the outlet that he had been suffering for years. Whilst he had "battled them as best he could", "the toll it took on his body was just too much". He passed away in a hospice in Ventura, California.
The Hollywood Reporter added that Donald said Mantooth had been "ill for a number of years and kept getting thinner and thinner".
Mantooth was most well known for his iconic role as firefighter and paramedic John Gage on the show Emergency!. He also played roles in ABC's Loving, General Hospital, and One Life to Live, as well as CBS' As the World Turns.
His iconic role as Gage helped shape the role of a paramedic itself. At the time of his hiring in 1971, there were not many paramedics in general. In a 2013 interview for the TV Academy Foundation, he remembered thinking, "What the hell is a paramedic?"
He added that "at that time, there were only [a handful] in all of California." The show pioneered the role of a paramedic, and helped boost numbers of what was then an unknown career.
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Tributes Have Poured In For the 'Emergency!' Icon
Tributes have poured in for the Emergency! star. Commenters were quick to mention his iconic status. One commenter wrote, "Randolph and Kevin are literally responsible for saving millions of lives," with another writing, "An entire generation of firefighters at retirement age looked up to him."
Other commenters had nostalgia for the show itself. One commenter wrote, "Sad, memories of after school shows! RIP!" Another wrote, "Man, one of my favorite shows when I was a kid, Godspeed Randolph."
Others said that his role as Gage actually helped their own careers! One wrote, "I had a major crush on him and Emergency sparked my interest in becoming an EMT and getting into the Jr. Red Cross."
Rest in peace to an acting legend and an unlikely savior of millions of lives. Many would have died without Randolph Mantooth!
