James Alexander Radomski, known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical Hair.
14 Facts About James Rado
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Rado was born to Alexander and Blanche Radomski on January 23,1932, in Los Angeles and was raised in Irondequoit, New York, and Washington, DC In college, Rado majored in Speech and Drama and began writing songs.
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James Rado co-authored two musical shows at the University of Maryland, Interlude and Interlude II.
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James Rado wrote the lyrics and music for all of his early songs.
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James Rado then moved to New York City, where he studied acting with Lee Strasberg and wrote pop songs which he recorded with his own band, James Alexander and the Argyles.
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In 1966, Rado played Richard Lionheart in the original Broadway production of The Lion in Winter by James Goldman, starring Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris.
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James Rado met Gerome Ragni in 1964, when they acted together in the off-Broadway play Hang Down Your Head and Die.
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James Rado played Claude in the later Los Angeles production.
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The main characters of Claude and Berger were autobiographical to a degree, with James Rado's Claude being the pensive romantic.
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James Rado previously collaborated with the Fundamental Theater Project in 2010, playing the role of Hamlet's Ghost in the company's benefit reading of Hamlet in which Alec Baldwin, Kate Mulgrew, and Fundamental Theater Project Co-Artistic Director Sam Underwood starred.
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In 1974, James Rado reunited with Ragni to co-write Sun, a show with music by Steve Margoshes based on a play by New York writer Joyce Greller with themes about pollution and the environment.
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Since 2011, James Rado was creative consultant for the futuristic rock musical Barcode, written and workshopped at a downtown Manhattan rock club in 2012 by the members of New York indie band Gladshot, and premiered in August 2013 at the New York International Fringe Festival.
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On December 3,2011, James Rado performed songs from Barcode at Occupy Wall Street's Occupy Broadway.
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James Rado died on June 21,2022, at a hospital in Manhattan from cardiorespiratory arrest at the age of 90.