John Randolph, 88, a Tony Award-winning stage, screen and television character actor and a union and social activist who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, died Tuesday.
Mr. Randolph was not a household name, but the actor was a familiar face in movies and on television, often playing authority figures. He was Jack Nicholson’s father in “Prizzi’s Honor,” and on TV he played Roseanne’s father on several episodes of “Roseanne.”
He had a long career on stage after making his Broadway debut in 1938 in “Medicine Show.” He appeared in the original New York stage productions of “The Sound of Music,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “The Visit,” “Come Back, Little Sheba” and “Command Decision,” and he frequently was seen on California stages until 2000.
The son of Russian and Romanian immigrants, Mr. Randolph was born Emanuel Cohen in the Bronx. His dramatic training began with two years in the Federal Theatre Project in the 1930s; he changed his name in 1940.
A self-described “old radical,” Mr. Randolph became one of the original members of the Actors Studio after World War II.
In the early 1950s, his outspokenness and defense of other accused figures during McCarthyism led to his being blacklisted for 15 years.
His survivors include two children and a grandchild.
