Randy Enjoys Rustic Setting
Desert Sun, 23 July 1973
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) - Randy Mantooth, the razor sharp paramedic of "Emergency,” is attuned to nature and the ecology. He lives a unique life for a television star. A 28-year-old bachelor, Mantooth whose father is a fullblooded Seminole Indian lives alone in a remote section of Topanga Canyon, midway between the San Fernando valley and Malibu beach. He rents a small, unpretentious house on an acre of land. A creek runs through the properly in the springtime. The setting is rustic. The aroma of chapparal, greasewood and sage assail the visitor in a pungent and heady mixture. Mountains plunge down to ravines all around the area. Smog is rare. The old house, consisting of four rooms living room, bedroom, kitchen and bath is furnished with odds and ends, about what you’d expect of a young man on his own. Nothing fancy. There are no gas lines to the house. Everything runs on electricity. There is insufficient power for an electric range, however, so Randy relies on hot plates to cook his meals. He also has a portable oven. Even with a star spangled modern gas range Randy would be lost. He’s a terrible cook and cheerfully admits it. “I’d starve to death if i didn’t have a girl friend who likes to cook,” he says. But starvation is not threat enough to rush the dark-haired actor into matrimony. He is the product of a broken home and doesn't want to marry or have children until he feels such a union would be lasting.
Randy is essentially a loner. When the NBC series is not in production he spends hours walking the trails into the mountains just outside his front door. A mile from his house there is no sign of civilization except an occasional jet vapor trail. On weekends he visits his mother in Santa Barbara, but more often he jumps into his Land Rover and heads for the desert or “anywhere there aren’t people.” He camps out under the stars, fixes a few spare meals and simply sits and contemplates the beauties of the surroundings. If he feels the need for company Randy will invite a girl friend to accompany him on one of his treks to the desert or mountains, but she must enjoy isolation and cooking over a campfire. There is no set pattern to Randy's life except when he is working. Then he is required to report to Universal Studios at 6:30 a.m. It is a 28-mile drive from his hideout, but he thinks it’s worthwhile. Mantooth is pleased with the success of the series, but the show is a mixed blessing to him. “The more popular the series is the less freedom from telephone and people there is for me,” he says. "1 love solitude, and I can’t say it has anything to do with my Indian heritage.” Randy’s principal companion is a cat named Che, for Cheyuma (translation: black spirit). Until recently Randy was accompanied everywhere by his collie, King. But the dog died at the age of 10. Mantooth still speaks of him fondly and one day hopes to buy another dog.
[UPI piece was retitled by different papers that ran it. Weird one was “Living in Canyon Hide-away... Randy Mantooth, Paramedic On 'Emergency/ Real Loner.” The other papers used titles about being a nature lover.]