What was Tony Randall's Net Worth?
Tony Randall was an American actor and producer who had a net worth of $30 million at the time of his death. That net worth includes the value of his Central Park apartment which was sold by his widow three years after his death for just under $18 million. Tony Randall was an actor of the screen and stage, best known for his role as Felix Unger on the ABC sitcom "The Odd Couple." He was nominated for five Golden Globes and six Emmy Awards for his role in The Odd Couple. He also had his own sitcom called "The Tony Randall Show," and appeared in numerous films including "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?," "Pillow Talk," "Fluffy," and "7 Faces of Dr. Lao." On the theatrical side of things, Randall starred in such productions as "Oh, Captain!" and "Inherit the Wind," and founded the National Actors Theatre. He married Florence Gibbs in 1942. They remained until her death in 1992. He remarried in 1995 to Heather Harlan, who was fifty years his junior. The couple had two children together. On May 17, 2004, Randall passed away in his sleep following infection with pneumonia from a coronary bypass surgery in 2003.
Early Life and Education
Tony Randall was born as Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg on February 26, 1920 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Jewish parents Julia and Mogscha. As an adolescent, he went to Tulsa Central High School. Randall went on to attend Northwestern University for a year before moving to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Career Beginnings
At the start of his career, Randall worked as a radio announcer at WTAG in Worcester, Massachusetts. He soon began acting on stage, starring in productions of "Candida" and "The Corn is Green." For four years during World War II, Randall served in the US Army Signal Corps; he subsequently returned to his stage career to work at the Olney Theatre in Maryland. Moving back to New York City, he joined the touring production of a revival of the play "The Barretts of Wimpole Street." Randall continued to act on stage throughout the late 40s, including in Broadway productions of "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Caesar and Cleopatra."
Television Career in the 50s and 60s
On television, Randall landed his first major role in 1952 on the NBC sitcom "Mister Peepers," playing history teacher Harvey Weskit. The show, which ran for three seasons through 1955, earned Randall his first Emmy Award nomination. He made guest appearances on many other shows throughout the decade, most of them anthology series such as "The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse," "Kraft Theatre," "The Motorola Television Hour," and "Studio One in Hollywood." In the early 60s, Randall appeared in episodes of "Checkmate" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" and starred in a television film adaptation of "Arsenic and Old Lace." He also served as a guest panelist on various game shows throughout the 60s, including "What's My Line?" and "Hollywood Squares."
The Odd Couple
Randall began his most famous role in 1970, starring opposite Jack Klugman on the ABC sitcom "The Odd Couple," based on the Neil Simon play. Randall played Felix Unger, a divorced man forced to share a Manhattan apartment with Klugman's Oscar Madison, another divorced man with an opposite personality. Both actors received Emmy Award nominations for each of the show's five seasons through 1975, with Randall winning once and Klugman twice.
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Further Television Career
After the end of "The Odd Couple," Randall starred on his own sitcom, "The Tony Randall Show." Playing widowed Philadelphia judge Walter Franklin, he starred alongside Devon Scott, Brad Savage, Barney Martin, and Rachel Roberts, among others. The show ultimately ran for two seasons from 1976 to 1978. Randall went on to appear in the television films "Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid" and "Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend." The latter was continued as the sitcom "Love, Sidney," on which Randall reprise his starring role as closeted gay man Sidney Shorr; the program ran from 1981 to 1983.
Randall refused to star on any more regular television series following "Love, Sidney." However, he did star in a number of television films, including "Sunday Drive," "The Man in the Brown Suit," "Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil," and the 1993 reunion film "The Odd Couple: Together Again." Randall also made frequent appearances as a guest on David Letterman's two late night talk shows.
Film Career
Randall made his feature film debut in the 1957 comedy "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!," based on the play by Edward Chodorov. The same year, he starred in "No Down Payment" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?," the latter of which garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. Randall earned another nomination for his supporting performance in the 1959 romantic comedy "Pillow Talk," his first of three onscreen collaborations with Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Also that year, he starred opposite Debbie Reynolds in "The Mating Game." In the early 60s, Randall starred in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "Let's Make Love," "Boys' Night Out," and "Island of Love," and reunited with Day and Hudson in "Lover Come Back." Randall had one of his most prolific years on the big screen in 1964, starring in three films, including "7 Faces of Dr. Lao," in which he played seven characters, and "Send Me No Flowers," his final film with Day and Hudson. He subsequently starred in "Fluffy," "The Alphabet Murders," "Our Man in Marrakesh," and "Hello Down There."
Randall had fewer film credits in the 70s, with the ensemble comedy "Scavenger Hunt" providing his only major role. The next decade, he appeared in such films as "Foolin' Around," "The King of Comedy," and "That's Adequate," and lent his voice to the animated films "My Little Pony: The Movie" and "The Gnomes' Great Adventure." In the 90s, Randall's credits included "Fatal Instinct" and "How the Toys Saved Christmas." His final two films were "Down with Love" and "It's About Time," released in 2003 and 2005, respectively.
Theater Career
Randall began his first major role on Broadway in 1955 in a production of "Inherit the Wind." Later in the decade, he starred in the Broadway musical comedy "Oh, Captain!," for which he earned a Tony Award nomination. Randall returned to the Great White Way in 1966 for the short-lived "UTBU." His later credits included "M. Butterfly," "The Sunshine Boys," and "Right You Are."
In 1991, Randall founded the National Actors Theatre company, of which he was the chairman. The company put on productions of such plays as "The Crucible," "The Master Builder," "The Seagull," "The Flowering Peach," and "The Gin Game." The National Actors Theatre closed following Randall's passing in 2004.
Personal Life and Death
Randall wed his first wife, high school sweetheart Florence Gibbs, in 1938. They remained together until Gibbs' death in 1992. Three years later, Randall married actress Heather Harlan, who was 50 years his junior. The couple had two children named Julia and Jefferson.
In May of 2004, Randall passed away from pneumonia while being hospitalized at NYU Medical Center after having undergone coronary bypass surgery the previous year. He was 84 years of age.
Central Park West Apartment
Tony's longtime primary residence was an absolutely stunning New York City co-op apartment that encompasses a full floor at 211 Central Park West. Located in a building called The Beresford, Tony's former unit had 10-rooms and no fewer than 20 windows facing Central Park. Presumably, he kept it very neat. The apartment has four bedrooms, all of which face the park, a private elevator, a library that faces the park, a 29-by-11 foot gallery, a 21-foot kitchen and eight walk-in closets. In 2007 Tony's widow Heather sold the apartment to financier Vikram Pandit for $17.85 million. That was $300,000 more than its asking price.
