Ronald Egan Randell (8 October 1918 – 11 June 2005) was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).
Early life and career Randell was the son of Ernest Randell (d. 26 May 1946) and Louisa Egan, who had married in 1912. His father was an accountant, born in Broken Hill.
Randell was born in Sydney and was the youngest of three sons, the others being Reg and Norm. The family lived for a time in Western Australia but eventually settled in Sydney.
Randell attended Marist Brothers School in North Sydney. He left school at the age of 14, and went to work as an office boy in a Sydney finance office.
Early career Aged fourteen, Randell participated in a few sketches at a social acting club and did an unpaid job for radio station 2UE. He made his first professional appearance for the ABC at 14 for the Children's Sessions. He soon started acting regularly on children's serials. After eight months, Randell quit his office job to concentrate on acting.
He soon established himself as a leading male juvenile for radio, acting for 2KY Players, George Edwards, BAP and on Lux Playhouse. He also worked as a compère for variety shows, in particular with Jack Davey and did a two-man revue with Lloyd Lamble.Richard Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama, Melbourne University Press, 1994 p248 He worked in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Randell made his legitimate stage debut aged 19, in a production of Quiet Wedding at the Minerva Theatre in Sydney. Randell later joked, "I moved out of radio and back into theatre because I was becoming a left-hand actor. I would hold the script in my right hand and do all my acting with my left hand."
Most of his stage work at this time was done at the Minerva Theatre, including performances in Of Mice and Men. Randell stated police were ready to arrest the cast of Of Mice and Men because the play featured the word "whorehouse". "Fortunately we received a standing ovation and the police decided in the circumstances not to make any arrests." As late as 1974, Randell would say this was his favourite performance.
In 1943 he was cast in an Australian wartime propaganda film South West Pacific (1943). Unable to serve because he was suffering tuberculosis (although he also claimed it was due to sinus trouble), he travelled to the US in mid 1943 and sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic.Randell p 29-31
US visit In San Francisco he was cast in a stage play with Nancy Carroll. He also appeared on radio with Robert Young in Transport for Adams.
He later related that he had tested for the role of Stanley in Lifeboat (1944) for Alfred Hitchcock, but was unsuccessful – he did the test with an American accent saying he was unaware they were looking for a cockney. Through Cecil Kellaway he got a screen test at Paramount but this was unsuccessful, as was another for 20th Century Fox.Randell p29 - 32
He returned to Sydney in 1944 and resumed his theatre and radio career. He MC'd the show Here are the Facts.
Film stardom Return to Australia and Smithy In October 1944, Randell made his feature film debut in A Son Is Born, opposite Peter Finch and Muriel Steinbeck.
His big break came in November 1944, when he was spotted by producer Nick Perry at the Minerva Theatre performing in While the Sun Shines with Finch.'"Smithy"—Actor by Accident!', The Canberra Times 8 October 1946 p 3 This led to Randell being cast as the lead in Smithy, a biographical film about the pioneering Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who made the first flight across the Pacific (from the United States to Australia) in 1928. His casting was announced in May 1945. Producer Perry said, "Randell has been selected not only for his achievements as a fine actor, but as the type of virile Australian who embodies the spirit and qualities so typified by 'Smithy.' We have taken a long time over our selection, but we are extremely happy with our choice."
The release of A Son Is Born was held off until after Smithy had come out, to take advantage of its publicity.Richard Lane, The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama, Melbourne University Press, 1994 p250 Smithy was a big hit at the Australian box office, and Randell was widely acclaimed as a local star. A Ron Randell Film Club was established and Randell would be mobbed at personal appearances. It has been argued Randell "was never as good in his American films" as he was in Smithy, "moodiness suited him, as did an Australian accent."
Columbia Pictures Smithy had been made with funds from Columbia Pictures, who offered Randell a long-term contract and he moved to Hollywood in October 1946.
Producers Lou Appleton and Bud Small had a deal with Columbia to make a new series of pictures about Bulldog Drummond. According to Appleton, "We wanted a new film face and someone with a British way of speaking." They were impressed with his Smithy footage and put him in Bulldog Drummond at Bay. (It was made for an independent company, Venture, but released through Columbia.)
Columbia were so impressed by this that in April 1947 they cast Randell in a good support role in an expensive "A" production, It Had to Be You (1947). "I'm grateful for playing opposite people like Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde", said Randell. "They really know their business. You can't imagine what it means to get away from those 'Bulldog Drummond' detective roles. I was afraid I'd be type-cast and never play anything else."
He was called back for another go as Drummond in Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back, which filmed in June 1947 at the same time as The Mating of Millie (1948).
This was followed by The Sign of the Ram (1948) and the $2 million spectacular The Loves of Carmen (1948), where Randell was billed after Columbia's two biggest stars, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. However his part in the final movie was very small.
Randell had been meant to make four Drummond films but only appeared in two. In January 1948 it was reported Tom Conway had taken over the role of Drummond and that Randell was focused on "A"s. "I would like to be busy in a picture every day for the next two years, at least," he said. "With too much free time an actor, I think, loses the emotional pitch at which he works most effectively." He added he preferred comedy to drama, saying "I have a serious face, but I think I have feeling for comedy because I have a light mind." The same month it was reported he had obtained the screen rights to a story Hebridies Adventure by James MacFarlane and was trying to interest Columbia in making it.Schallert, E. "Barbara Bel Geddes Will Portray Tomboy", Los Angeles Times, 21 January 1948: 15.
Randell wrote a short booklet for publication in Australia, Ron Randell in Hollywood which he dedicated "to the many Australian boys and girls who have given me loyalty and support, and to express the hope that they may enjoy some of my Hollywood experiences with me." One review stated; "as an account of those experiences, ending with some pious aspirations concerning the talkies as an instrument for world peace, it's not too bad."
In February 1948 he was being sought after to appear in a Broadway play The Rats of Norway.
In July 1948, Columbia announced Randell would play another detective hero, The Lone Wolf, in The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949), hoping it would lead to more but there was no follow-up. In November 1948 a Washington Post profile called Randell "a lot of fun, looks a bit like James Mason."Aussie Marvels At Movie Love By Richard L. Coe. The Washington Post 2 November 1948: 17.
The studio put him in a support role in a Make Believe Ballroom (1949). "This will be the final major assignment I understand", wrote the Los Angeles Times in September 1948. Filmink magazine later noted this was when Columbia seemed to lose interest in Randell.
In October, Randell married for the first time."Aussie Marvels At Movie Love" by Richard L. Coe The Washington Post; 2 November 1948; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post pg. 17
In November 1948, Randell was told he needed to leave the country under the terms of his visa. By January 1949, it was announced his Columbia contract had lapsed. He was mentioned as a possible star for a production of Robbery Under Arms by Michael Balcon that was not made.
In April, he appeared in a production of Kraft Television Theatre, Wicked Is the Vine, based on a play by Australian Sumner Locke Elliott. He was in Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God (1949).
Return to the stage In July 1949 he appeared on stage in Los Angeles in a production of Major Barbara and said he did not want to make any more "B"s. "I know I've surprised quite a few Hollywood people, because they have never seen me working in something really good", he said. "In Major Barbara I have a chance to be charming and intelligent, a chance I was never given while working in pictures." Randell admitted that his determination to refuse offers in "B" pictures might be "tough on me financially", but he would prefer fewer but better film offers to large numbers of grade "B" roles. I wasn't happy working in those pictures, anyway."
He looked to Broadway and discussed appearing in The Devil's Carnival. Instead he returned to Columbia to appear in a swashbuckler for Sam Katzman, Tyrant of the Sea (1950).
He filmed this at the same time he was cast in a double-bill Terence Rattigan plays, The Browning Version and Harlequinade, supporting Maurice Evans and directed by Peter Glenville. (Glenville cast Randell on the basis of his performance in Major Barbara.) Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times said Randell was "particularly good" in his "curious part". The production did not have a long run and closed in December.
He was announced for a film The Killer that Stalked Broadway with Maurice Evans but it was never made.
Randell was meant to follow Browning Version with The Enchanted but his employment was over-ruled by Actors Equity who said that as a foreigner he should have to wait six months before appearing in another play.
"They have made a martyr of me", said Randell. "It is a horrible thing and a backward step for the United States, which always has been a forward country as far as Equity is concerned. It is the first time I knew any American organisation did not welcome competition. This new part was going to be the big break for me. It would have meant a very great deal to my career. Now I am forced to go without a job for six months, and I can't afford that."
He spent some time in London and considered moving there. Instead he returned to Hollywood to appear in Lorna Doone (1951), although it was a support role – the star was Richard Greene.
He was to have appeared in a stage production of The Corn Is Green but pulled out when Columbia used him again for Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard. He appeared in a play, The Amazing Adele with Ruth Gordon, which was being tried out in Westport. However, he left the production to appear in another, Angel in the Pawnshop. He was cast in a play by Frederick Lonsdale, The Day After Tomorrow. However, before the play went to New York, a production was seen by Sir Cedric Hardwicke whose wife was in the show; it resulted in Randell being replaced by Jack Watling.
Randell returned to movies with China Corsair (1951) at Columbia supporting Jon Hall. He followed it with Captive Women (1952), a low budget science fiction film for RKO, in which Variety said he "occasionally shows himself to be a first rate actor."Revie of Captive Woman at Variety He had a smaller part in The Brigand (1952) for Edward Small. These were all B-pictures.