BatesLine

« A tree frog in our backyard | Main | Tales of Future Past and the Ephemeral Isle »

Tony Randall, RIP

Sorry to learn of the passing of Tony Randall. I grew up watching and enjoying his work in "The Odd Couple", knew of his ties to Tulsa, and more recently enjoyed his cameos on Letterman and marveled at his late-in-life virility.

There are some intriguing details in the obituaries. He was married to his first wife for 54 years (although some sources say 50). That's remarkable for anyone, much less for a famous actor. She died in 1992, so if the first number is right, he married at age 18, in 1938. Three years after his first wife's death, he, at age 75, married a 25-year-old and became a father for the first time, siring a boy and a girl.

He was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa in 1920. The obits say his father was an art dealer. I wonder where they lived. He was growing up in the midst of Tulsa's first boom -- what must that have been like! And what was it like to grow up Jewish in Oklahoma in those days?

I found this brief reminiscence about Tulsa's cultural life.

Tulsa TV Memories has his Central High School yearbook photo.

I found this quote from a 1997 commencement speech he gave at Centenary College:

“You must find-each and every one of you – something in life to do that you love, that you love blindly. And you must work yourself to death at that,” he said to applause.
eXTReMe Tracker

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 18, 2004 11:57 AM.

The previous post in this blog was A tree frog in our backyard.

The next post in this blog is Tales of Future Past and the Ephemeral Isle.

For the latest entries, visit the main page, which also has links to archives by month and by category.

Contact

E-mail: blog AT batesline DOT com

BlogAds

Blog Ad Swap

Support BatesLine

Show your appreciation and help fund hosting and research expenses:

BatesLine is PayPal Verified