Actress. She was born in Detroit on Oct. 21, 1924, one of two children of Carl and Mary Sirola. Her father, a Finnish immigrant, was a butcher. Her mother, also Finnish, was the daughter of a copper miner in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit and moved to New York in 1943. After five years as a member of Jackie Gleason's on-the-air repertory company, Randolph virtually retired, opting to focus full-time on marriage and motherhood. Decades after leaving the show, Randolph still had many admirers and received dozens of letters a week. She spent her retirement going to Broadway openings and fundraisers, being active with the U.S.O., and visiting other favorite Manhattan haunts, among them Angus, Chez Josephine, and the Lambs Club. Her husband, Richard Lincoln Charles, a marketing executive who died in 1997, served as president at the Lambs, a theatrical club, and she reigned as "first lady." They had one son, Randy Charles. She died of natural causes in 2024 at age 99 at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Actress. She was born in Detroit on Oct. 21, 1924, one of two children of Carl and Mary Sirola. Her father, a Finnish immigrant, was a butcher. Her mother, also Finnish, was the daughter of a copper miner in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit and moved to New York in 1943. After five years as a member of Jackie Gleason's on-the-air repertory company, Randolph virtually retired, opting to focus full-time on marriage and motherhood. Decades after leaving the show, Randolph still had many admirers and received dozens of letters a week. She spent her retirement going to Broadway openings and fundraisers, being active with the U.S.O., and visiting other favorite Manhattan haunts, among them Angus, Chez Josephine, and the Lambs Club. Her husband, Richard Lincoln Charles, a marketing executive who died in 1997, served as president at the Lambs, a theatrical club, and she reigned as "first lady." They had one son, Randy Charles. She died of natural causes in 2024 at age 99 at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Bio by: Karen Nicholson
Family Members
Siblings
Advertisement
