# Randolph Mantooth (Johnny Gage on "Emergency!") has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [July 11, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579 "2026-07-11T00:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/81 "2026-07-15T15:03:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Every station should have a pole. My grandpa was a fireman. Every once in a while, my grandma would bring my sisters and me to the firehouse to see him. We’d get to slide down the pole while he held us in his arms. That was 60 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a big event for us! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/82 "2026-07-15T15:16:14Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a big event for us! That’s a cool memory! II think we had a school tour of a real fire station somewhere between grade 1-4, but I can’t remember a thing, not even where it was, except they were making turtle soup. I felt bad for the little turtles, and decided I couldn’t be a fireman if I had to eat that. I can’t even remember if we went down the fire pole! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/83 "2026-07-15T15:50:57Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I wonder why there aren’t burglaries at stations while they are on call. At 51 (and I assume everywhere) the big door stays open while they are gone. I think another fire show, 1974’s Firehouse, had an episode where crooks would make fake calls and rob the station. Was this ever a threat? Seems it would be easy to do. Lots of different departments, lots of different practices & policies - One possibility is they are long trucks & the cab is furthest from the receiver; if you’re going in a hurry maybe the button doesn’t register when one is pulling out & they don’t want to take the time to confirm it’s going down. There are tons of videos on YouTube of FD responses (why someone bothers to sit outside a station hoping to get them going on a call is beyond me, but to each their own - I _may_ watch _one_ & then quickly decide I have better things to do with my life) What I notice is that in some big cities they don’t have a garage door remote on the apparatus, so the driver pulls out, one of the backseaters presses the button on the wall to close the door & then needs to get onto the apparatus before they pull away. Seems to waste a couple of seconds in a business where seconds count. I can’t see garage door remotes being that big a budget item to a dept like FDNY but I’m more used to seeing doors closed when the company is out. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/84 "2026-07-19T16:22:41Z")
On FeTV it must be a memorial day for Mantooth - they’re showing several Johnny-centric episodes. Snakebite is on now. You know, he had a bother, Donald, that acted as well, though not as much. He was in several Emergency!s. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/85 "2026-07-19T17:07:13Z")
[Link to the obituary](https://www.lacountyfiremuseum.com/memorial/randy-mantooth-1945-2026/) on the LA county fire museum website. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/86 "2026-07-19T21:13:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Snakebite One of three episodes written by real-life pioneering paramedic Jim Page, under a pseudonym. We would have had Jimmy Page rather than Johnny Gage had Page consented to the use of his name. ETA: [cite](https://emsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Legacy-of-James-O.-Page.pdf) (page 13). ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/87 "2026-07-30T18:43:43Z")
I also watched Emergency! as a kid. IIRC, there was never any traffic congestion when Station 51 went out on a call or when a bringing a patient to Rampart. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/88 "2026-07-30T18:54:26Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > there was never any traffic congestion Congestion? No. Traffic trouble? All the time. They had at least two accidents with the ambulance, one where the squad hit a pedestrian, and an episode that featured Johnny complaining so much about bad drivers that he got the sheriff’s office to follow calls and ticket people that won’t pull over. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/89 "2026-07-30T19:03:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Congestion? No. Traffic trouble? All the time. Exactly. Even though _Emergency!_ generally did a good job of accurately depicting paramedic and firefighting practice, it was still a dramatic series, not a documentary. Any fiction TV show or movie which takes place in a busy city will only depict traffic issues when those issues are integral to the plot. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/90 "2026-07-30T19:07:20Z")
Entertainment: Real life with all the boring parts edited out. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/91 "2026-07-30T19:12:10Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > > 69 Charger Daytona (the one with the pointy nose and the wing)! Just someone’s car, parked. > > Eighth episode. What were them Duke boys doing in L.A.? Probably on the run from Roscoe and Boss Hogg. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/92 "2026-07-30T19:12:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Johnny complaining so much about bad drivers that he got the sheriff’s office to follow calls and ticket people that won’t pull over. That episode’s stinger was Johnny admitting _he_ got such a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/93 "2026-07-30T19:16:32Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What were them Duke boys doing in L.A.? No nose or wing on dem Duke Boys car. But…did you know there was a show called (and about) Enos? He moved to LA and joined the LAPD. I hated Dukes of Hazzard but loved Enos. Go figure. Buckle up, now! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/94 "2026-07-30T19:19:18Z")
> [@solost](#): > > What were them Duke boys doing in L.A.? The Daytona package was created for stock car racing, but under NASCAR’s rules at that time, Dodge had to make a certain number of them in regular production for consumer sales. Due to the extended nose and the massive stabilizer wing, it looked very different from the “normal” Charger. [![](https://cdn.speednik.com/powerautorax55/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2022/01/rare-rides-the-1969-dodge-charger-daytona-426-hemi-2022-01-09_06-36-29_415031.jpg) ](https://cdn.speednik.com/powerautorax55/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2022/01/rare-rides-the-1969-dodge-charger-daytona-426-hemi-2022-01-09_06-36-29_415031.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579/95 "2026-07-30T19:27:07Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > No nose or wing on dem Duke Boys car. I know, but since it was orange, I figured it’d be close enough for horseshoes, hand grenades, and Hazzard County Duke boy jokes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/randolph-mantooth-johnny-gage-on-emergency-has-died/1031579.md?page=4)