A few hours ago The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that actor Randolph Mantooth had died of a long illness at the age of 80. Mantooth, a Native American, played many roles in his life, but the one he’s most known for is John Gage, a paramedic on the television show Emergency!, which ran on NBC from 1972 (the year I was born) to 1977.
A lot of Gen Xers, including me, are hurting right now. Gage was a hero in every sense of the word, and it’s fair to say that this country has paramedics today in large part because of Mantooth.
Last year I was looking him up online because I was curious what became of him and I found an old website that forwarded fan letters to actors Not really believing the service (which was quite popular in the days before social media) was still active, I typed up an actual letter to Mantooth, printed it out and mailed it (along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for his response) to the address of the company that collected his fan mail. I have no idea if he ever received it, or if he was in any condition to even deal with it, given his health, because I never received a response. It was actually fun to do so, since these days I rarely mail anyone actual letters.
Anyway, here’s what I wrote, which I think sums up Mantooth’s importance to me when I was a kid.
August 21, 2025
Randolph Mantooth
[ADDRESS]
Mr. Mantooth,
I have no memory of not being a fan of yours. I was born in 1972, during the first season of Emergency!, and as I grew the show immediately became my favorite. John Gage was my first hero, someone I idolized all through my childhood. And when I was in high school and then college, and a big fan of China Beach, I was beyond happy when you made an appearance on a couple episodes of that show.
I eventually became a journalist, and I’ve talked to enough firefighters and police officers in my career to have seen just how much of an impact you and Kevin Tighe and the rest of the Emergency! cast had on the growth of professional paramedics in this country. In fact, I wasn’t surprised when LA County Sheriff Robert Luna once told me (back when he was Long Beach Police Chief) that his love of Adam-12 and Emergency! as a kid had led him to a career in law enforcement.
Anyway, I’ve been rather nostalgic lately and wanted to thank you for the profoundly positive influence you had not just on me growing up, but on our entire country.
Though I don’t have a photo of you to autograph, I included a SASE anyway in hopes that maybe you could send me a signed business card or something.
Thank you very much, and I hope you’re doing well.
Sincerely,
Anthony Pignataro
[ADDRESS]
enclosure
Anthony Pignataro 