Lillian Randolph
| Lillian Randolph | |
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Lillian Randolph in 1952
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| Born |
Castello Randolph December 14, 1898 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | September 12, 1980 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1931–1980 |
| Spouse(s) | Jack Chase Edward Sanders (1951-1953) ? McKee |
| Children | Barbara and Charles |
Lillian Randolph (December 14, 1898 – September 12, 1980) was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television. She worked in entertainment from the 1930s until shortly before her death. She appeared in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows.
Randolph is most recognized for appearing in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Magic (1978) and The Onion Field (1979), the last of which was her final onscreen project. She prominently contributed her voice to the character Mammy Two Shoes in the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts between 1940 and 1952.
Born Castello Randolph in Knoxville, Tennessee, she was the younger sister of actress Amanda Randolph. The daughter of a Methodist minister and a teacher, she began her professional career singing on local radio in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. At Detroit's WXYZ, Lillian was noticed by George W. Trendle, station owner and developer of The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. He got her into radio training courses which paid off in roles for local radio shows. Lillian was tutored for three months on "racial dialect" before getting any radio roles. She moved on to Los Angeles in 1936 to work on Al Jolson's radio show, on Big Town, on the Al Pearce show, and to sing at the Club Alabam there. Though Lillian and her sister, Amanda, were continually looking for roles to make ends meet in 1938, she was gracious enough to open her home to Lena Horne, who was in California for her first movie role in The Duke Is Tops; the film was so tightly budgeted, there was no money for a hotel for Horne. Lillian opened her home again during World War II with weekly dinners and entertainment for service people in the Los Angeles area through American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS).
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