John Randolph (actor)
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John Randolph (June 1, 1915 - February 24, 2004) was a prolific Tony Award-winning actor.
He was born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen in New York City. In the 1930s he was active in politics, and was blacklisted by the Hollywood studio bosses in 1955 after he refused to answer questions and exercised his Constitutional right and took the Fifth Amendment before the House Un-American Activities Committee relating to the Cold War Communist scare. He was the last blacklisted actor to regain employment in Hollywood films when director John Frankenheimer cast him in the lead 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 won the 1987 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Neil Simon play, Broadway Bound. One of his last movie roles was in 1998 as Tom Hanks's grandfather in You've Got Mail, but perhaps he is best known for playing the father of main character Charlie Partana in Prizzi's Honor.
With numerous screen and televsion appearances in secondary roles, his was a familiar face. He was often stopped on the street by people who asked if they knew him. He would reply "Yes, I've been in your living room many times."
Randolph appeared in early episodes of the TV sit-com Seinfeld as Frank Costanza, George Costanza's father. He was later replaced by Jerry Stiller. In 1995, the scenes where Randolph appeared were re-shot with Stiller. The re-shot versions are shown in syndication in the United States. The original versions, with Randolph, can be seen outside of the US.