1. Ron Randell had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay, Kiss Me Kate, I Am a Camera, Most Dangerous Man Alive and King of Kings.
65 Facts About Ron Randell
1. 2.
Ron Randell's father was an accountant, born in Broken Hill.
3.
Ron Randell left school at the age of 14, and went to work as an office boy in a Sydney finance office.
4.
Aged fourteen, Ron Randell participated in a few sketches at a social acting club and did an unpaid job for radio station 2UE.
5.
Ron Randell made his first professional appearance for the ABC at 14 for the Children's Sessions.
6.
Ron Randell soon established himself as a leading male juvenile for radio, acting for 2KY Players, George Edwards, BAP and on Lux Playhouse.
7.
Ron Randell worked as a compere for variety shows, in particular with Jack Davey and did a two-man revue with Lloyd Lamble.
8.
Ron Randell made his legitimate stage debut aged 19, in a production of Quiet Wedding at the Minerva Theatre in Sydney.
9.
Ron Randell appeared on radio with Robert Young in Transport for Adams.
10.
Ron Randell returned to Sydney in 1944 and resumed his theatre and radio career.
11.
In October 1944, Ron Randell made his feature film debut in A Son Is Born, opposite Peter Finch and Muriel Steinbeck.
12.
Smithy was a big hit at the Australian box office, and Ron Randell was widely acclaimed as a local star.
13.
Ron Randell 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.
14.
Ron Randell had been meant to make four Drummond films but only appeared in two.
15.
In January 1948 it was reported Tom Conway had taken over the role of Drummond and that Ron Randell was focused on "A"s.
16.
In November 1948, Ron Randell was told he needed to leave the country under the terms of his visa.
17.
Ron Randell was mentioned as a possible star for a production of Robbery Under Arms by Michael Balcon that was not made.
18.
Ron Randell looked to Broadway and discussed appearing in The Devil's Carnival.
19.
Ron Randell 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.
20.
Ron Randell was announced for a film The Killer that Stalked Broadway with Maurice Evans but it was never made.
21.
Ron 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.
22.
Ron Randell spent some time in London and considered moving there.
23.
Ron Randell 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.
24.
Ron Randell was cast in a play by Frederick Lonsdale, The Day After Tomorrow.
25.
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 Ron Randell being replaced by Jack Watling.
26.
Ron Randell returned to movies with China Corsair at Columbia supporting Jon Hall.
27.
In September 1951 Ron Randell went into rehearsals for a production of Candida with Olivia de Havilland.
28.
Ron Randell tried to raise finance for a film about Don Bradman.
29.
Ron Randell was in an A picture: The Mississippi Gambler.
30.
Ron Randell turned down a support part in The Red Beret and instead supported Michael Denison and Dulcie Grey in a play, Sweet Peril.
31.
Ron Randell took time out from rehearsals to appear in a TV series shot in Germany, Orient Express, starring in the TV special "The Blue Camelia".
32.
Ron Randell was interested in producing a play in New York: Pommy by William Lipscomb.
33.
Ron Randell came to London to appear in a West End production, The Fifth Season.
34.
Ron Randell blew a kiss to viewers on air, causing controversy amongst TV critics.
35.
Ron Randell was to have been in The Girl Friends directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.
36.
From October 1954 to December 1955, Ron Randell hosted the ABC anthology series The Vise.
37.
In March 1955, Ron Randell returned to Australia to appear in a stage production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.
38.
Ron Randell had to take a leave of absence to make Beyond Mombasa in Africa.
39.
Ron Randell had a support role in The Story of Esther Costello shot in London.
40.
Ron Randell got a job playing an American in the TV series, OS.
41.
Ron Randell was going to make Lost Mission with his wife and James and John Woolfe but it appears to have been never made.
42.
Ron Randell's then-wife was Eurasian so they went to Hollywood to meet Logan, hoping she would be cast in the title role.
43.
Ron Randell ended up being cast in the third lead, only on stage for ten minutes, with Ron Randell paid $1,000 a week.
44.
Ron Randell had an excellent part in King of Kings, shot in Spain.
45.
Ron Randell acquired the rights to a novel, Defender's Triumph, and intended to film it as 7 Soho Squared but the film was never made.
46.
Ron Randell did play the lead in The Most Dangerous Man Alive and made a film in Germany, It's a Great Life.
47.
Ron Randell was going to produce and star in a war survival film,.
48.
Ron Randell returned to Australia briefly to promote King of Kings in late 1961.
49.
Ron Randell said he wanted to make a film in Woolloomooloo based on the Camden Town Murder with Ralph Richardson, but was not made.
50.
Ron Randell was in The Longest Day, as an American war correspondent, Follow the Boys and Gold for the Caesars.
51.
Ron Randell did co-produce The Gallant One, shot in Peru and starring his wife.
52.
Ron Randell guest-starred twice in Bewitched in 1964 and 1967, and played a lead role in the two-part "The Contenders" episode in the series Mission: Impossible in 1968.
53.
Ron Randell returned to Australia in 1967 to appear in There's a Girl in My Soup which was very popular.
54.
Ron Randell returned to Australia in 1969 to explore the possibilities of producing a play there, Houseboat in Kashmir, by the team of Jerome and Lee.
55.
Ron Randell was commuting between the US and London and had recently bought in apartment in London.
56.
Ron Randell returned to Australia again in 1971 to direct and star in a stage play, Come Live with Me, at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney.
57.
Ron Randell said he intended to co produce a film in Australia called Northward the Coast but it was never made.
58.
Ron Randell returned to Australia in 1974, to appear in a six-week run of a play, Champagne Complex, at Wrest Point Casino in Hobart.
59.
Ron Randell said he was trying to produce a TV series based on the book Colour of the East by John Russell.
60.
Ron Randell told the press that he was not getting a lot of television work in the USA.
61.
In 1975, Ron Randell appeared on Broadway in a production of Sherlock Holmes.
62.
Ron Randell married his first wife, stage actress Elaine Diana Maltzman, in New Canaan, Connecticut, in October 1948.
63.
Ron Randell was engaged to actress Amanda Blake, and they planned to marry in 1951 but there seems no evidence they went through with their plans.
64.
Ron Randell was engaged to Marie Keith in September 1952, and they married in October that year.
65.
Ron Randell had a romance with Hildegarde Christian then married Laya Raki in 1956, and they remained together until his death in Los Angeles in 2005 following a stroke.