Randolph Mantooth, Emergency! Star, Dies at 80

Actor Randolph Mantooth, best known for portraying firefighter-paramedic Johnny Gage on Emergency!, has died at 80.

Mantooth passed away on Thursday in a Ventura hospice facility and was surrounded by friends and family, the actor's brother, Donald Mantooth, told TMZ on Friday.

The actor had battled with a number of cancers for several years, including throat . 

Mantooth 'kept getting thinner and thinner' before succumbing to the illness, his brother told The Hollywood Reporter. 

The Sacramento native is survived by his brother, sister, nieces, and nephews. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Mantooth's representatives for comment. 

Aside from his role on Emergency!, Mantooth also starred as Clay Alden/Alex Masters on the ABC soap opera Loving, and appeared on other daytime shows including ABC's General Hospital, ABC's One Life to Live and CBS' As the World Turns. 

Mantooth, born Randy DeRoy Mantooth, worked in television, film and theater for more than 50 years.

Fans know him best for portraying Gage in the 1970s NBC medical drama Emergency!.

He starred opposite Kevin Tighe, who played his partner Roy DeSoto.

The actor had a humorous response after learning he was going to play a paramedic in the show.

'What the hell is a paramedic? At that time, there were only [a handful] in all of California,' he said in a 2013 interview for the TV Academy Foundation website The Interviews.