Randee Heller
| Randee Heller | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 10, 1947 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1978–present |
Randy M. "Randee" Heller (born June 10, 1947) is an American television and film actress. Her most notable roles were in the film The Karate Kid and one of its sequels, The Karate Kid Part III, as Daniel Larusso's mother, and on the 1970s serial sitcom Soap as Jodie Dallas's roommate Alice, one of the first recurring lesbian characters in television history. She also had a starring role as Carol in the 1979 made-for-TV movie, Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze. Most recently she was seen in a recurring role on the series Mad Men as Bert Cooper and Don Draper's elderly secretary Ida Blankenship and on TV show Wilfred as Ryan's neighbor Margot.
Heller was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in West Hempstead, on Long Island. Her mother was raised in Brooklyn and her grandparents were from Russia. She began her career in musicals on Broadway in such shows as Grease, where she played Rizzo, and Godspell. She moved from New York to California in 1978. Her groundbreaking role as Alice on the TV series Soap received mixed reviews. The criticism at the time was not for her acting but for the stereotyping of her character. The role played into a television tradition of making lesbian characters psychologically troubled. The Boston Herald said that the characterization shows how "the networks have generally depicted lesbians either as suicidal losers or sexual predators." For example, it identifies Alice as "TV's first recurring lesbian character," noting that she "first tries to throw herself off a bridge, then falls for Jodie (Billy Crystal), a confused gay man, and finally runs off.".
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