Randolph Mantooth, who played paramedic John Gage on the NBC series Emergency! and helped make paramedics household heroes, died on July 9, 2026, in hospice in Ventura, California. He was 80. His family said he died after a long illness; a relative told The New York Times the cause was complications of pneumonia.
John Gage
Mantooth was born in Sacramento, California, on September 19, 1945. He became a familiar face across America as John Gage, the eager, warm-hearted firefighter-paramedic of Los Angeles County Fire Station 51 in Emergency!, which ran from 1972 to 1977. The show arrived just as paramedic programs were spreading across the country, and it is widely credited with inspiring many viewers to become paramedics and firefighters themselves.
Daytime television
After Emergency! Mantooth built a long career in television, including daytime drama. He joined ABC’s Loving in 1987 and stayed as the show became The City, and he made guest appearances across dozens of series.
A champion for first responders
Mantooth never left the world of Emergency! behind. He served as a spokesperson on firefighter health and safety for the International Association of Fire Fighters and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and for decades he spoke at fire and EMS conferences across the country, where crews greeted him as one of their own. He disclosed a cancer diagnosis in 2015 and later said his treatment was complete.