John Randolph, one of the most durable and talented character actors of stage, screen and television, and whose socialist leanings led him to be blacklisted in the McCarthy era, died of natural causes on February 24 at his home in Hollywood. He was 88.

Born Emanuel Hirsch Cohen on June 1, 1915 in the Bronx, New York, he was the son of Romanian immigrants who spoke no English when they arrived on Ellis Island. His father died when he was still an infant, but his mother remarried soon after, and his stepfather, Joseph Lippman, renamed him Mortimer.

He studied in the Federal Theater Project with Stella Adler and made his Broadway debut in 1938 in the Medicine Show. He changed his name to John Randolph in 1940, just before World War II interrupted his career, where he served in the Army Air Force.

After the war, Randolph returned to New York and returned to the stage, where he continued to make numerous appearances in such popular stage productions of The Visit and Come Back, Little Sheba. He made his film debut as a police dispatcher in The Naked City (1948), a classic film noir that utilized Randolph's native New York.

Around this time, Randolph began to steep himself deep into activism and left-wing causes: rallying for better housing for veterans; civil rights' marches, and for convicted spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, just to name a few. Things came to a boil in 1955, when he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Randolph pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any questions, and was quickly blacklisted by the committee, and found roles scarce, with the exception of a few off-Broadway productions, for the next ten years.

Randolph's fortunes brightened considerably when director John Frankenheimer cast him in the intense science fiction drama Seconds (1966). He plays a disenchanted middle-aged man who is surgically made to look decades younger; and although Rock Hudson plays his role for the remainder of the movie, Randolph made his mark.

From there, Randolph made the move West to Hollywood and appeared in numerous television shows: Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, M*A*S*H, and countless others. He built up an impressive enough resume to move easily into films, where his imposing presence and craggy facial features made him a natural to play authority figures: a fey, elderly con man in There was a Crooked Man (1970); the police chief in Serpico (1973); the mayor in Earthquake (1974); a sympathetic judge in Frances (1982); and Jack Nicholson's father in Prizzi's Honor (1985).

Randolph's greatest triumph was when he returned to Broadway to star in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound (1987), the third play in Simon's autobiographical trilogy that also included Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. His role as the left-leaning, cantankerous grandfather, Trotskyite, was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and Randolph won both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his performance.

By the '90's, Randolph was still making guest appearances in hit television shows, like Seinfeld and E.R. and pleased many moviegoers with his charming role as Tom Hanks' grandfather in the romantic comedy You've Got Mail (1998). His last role was a cameo in the minor cult comedy Sunset Strip (2000).

Apart from acting, Randolph remained true to his political spirit, having served on both the board of directors for the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors' Equity. His wife of 41 years, the actress Sarah Cunningham, died of complications due to asthma in 1986. He is survived by two children, Martha of Honolulu, Hal of Los Angeles; a brother, Jerry Lippman of Edgewater, New Jersey; and a granddaughter.

by Michael T Toole