'Emergency!' Star Randolph Mantooth Dead at 80

Randolph Mantooth, the actor best known for his iconic portrayal of paramedic John Gage on "Emergency!," has died, TMZ confirmed.

Donald Mantooth, his brother, tells TMZ ... the TV, film, and stage actor died peacefully Thursday in a Ventura hospice surrounded by friends and family. The actor had been sick for several years with a variety of cancers, starting with throat cancer. He battled them as best he could, but the toll it took on his body was just too much, his brother says.

Working in Hollywood for more than 50 years ... Mantooth appeared in dozens and dozens of projects such as "ER," "LA Law," "China Beach," "Baywatch," "Fantasy Island," and "Charlie's Angels."

For two decades, beginning in the 1990s, he appeared in several daytime soap operas, earning four Soap Opera Digest Award nominations.

Mantooth is survived by his brother, sister, nieces, and nephews.

He was 80.