Sue Randall

Marion Burnside Randall (October 8, 1935 – October 26, 1984), who acted under the name Sue Randall, was an American television actress whose entire 17-year career (1950 to 1967) was spent in episodes of TV series, and one film. Her best-known role was the kindly Miss Alice Landers, Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver's elementary-school teacher in the CBS and ABC sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

Early life and education Born in Philadelphia, Sue Randall was born Marion Burnside Randall, the younger child of Marion Burnside (née Heist) and Roland Rodrock Randall, a prominent real-estate consultant. She began acting on stage at the age of 10 in a production of the Alden Park Players.

In 1953, she completed her early education at the Lankenau School for Girls in the Germantown District of Philadelphia and then moved to New York, where she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating with honors.

Film and television career

Randall's credited TV debut came in the 1955 episode "Golden Victory" of the series Star Tonight. She was one of the actresses who had the role of Diane Emerson in the television version of Valiant Lady (1953-1957). In 1954, she also portrayed Diane Emerson on the CBS drama Woman with a Past.

Randall appeared in other television productions before portraying Ruthie Saylor, a reference-desk worker, in the 1957 film Desk Set starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Randall's recurring role as a teacher on Leave It to Beaver spanned the years 1958 to 1962, when the actress was in her 20s. She appeared in 28 episodes of the popular sitcom after replacing Diane Brewster, who played Miss Canfield during the first season and in the 1980s television movies based on the series. Randall's first appearance as Miss Landers was in the Leave It to Beaver episode "Ward's Problem", which originally aired on October 16, 1958.

Primarily, Randall's roles on television were as a featured actor or supporting character, often in Westerns. For example, she was cast as Kathy O'Hara, an aspiring concert pianist, in the episode "The Mysterious Stranger" (February 17, 1959) on the ABC/Warner Bros. series Sugarfoot. She was cast in "Judgment Day" (October 11, 1959) on the ABC series The Rebel as Elaine, the daughter of a man sentenced to hang.

In the late 1950s, producers cast Randall as a co-star with actress Theodora Davitt in a proposed weekly sitcom titled Up on Cloud Nine. A pilot for this comedy was completed, but no potential sponsors opted to buy or underwrite the series about "the daffy misadventures" of two airline stewardesses. In the pilot episode's storyline, described by one later reviewer as "painfully unfunny", Randall and Davitt's characters insult passengers and frighten them while in flight by mistakenly preparing their plane for a crash landing.

Randall appeared in other series, including CBS's The Twilight Zone, Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke (as Laura in “Millie”, and as Effie Strayhorn in "The Cook"), Bat Masterson, The Aquanauts, Pete and Gladys, Ichabod and Me, and Hennesey, NBC's Bonanza and The Man and the Challenge, and ABC's The Real McCoys, The Dakotas, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive, and The Rifleman. In addition, she made three guest appearances on Sea Hunt in 1961. That same year, she also guest-starred as Ellen in the episode "The Secret Life of James Thurber", based on the works of American humorist James Thurber, in the CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. She made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, both times as the defendant: Betty Wilkins in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Ill-Fated Faker" and Arnell Stiller, alias Amy Scott, in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Garrulous Go-Between".

Randall appeared also in five episodes of the syndicated Western anthology Death Valley Days. Her last performance in that series was in 1966, when she was cast as Carrie Huntington in the episode "The Courtship of Carrie Huntington".

Personal life Randall married Peter Blake Powell in 1957, and the couple had two children. It was to second husband, James J. McSparron, that she was married at the time of her death. Two years later, she left California and returned to Philadelphia, where she soon began working in administrative roles with various charitable organizations. She participated in telethons and other local events to raise money to support programs and research battling arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and blindness, and providing poor children with a better education.

Randall died of lung cancer and larynx cancer at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia on October 26, 1984, at age 49.

Filmography 1962 Leave It to Beaver Miss Alice Landers 28 episodes1959, 1960 77 Sunset Strip Chick Hammons Ruth Douglas Alice Smith Gallante S1.E13 - "Hit And Run" S1.E34 - "Strange Girl in Town" S3.E13 - "The Affairs of Adam Gallente"1959 Sugarfoot Kathy O'Hara S2.E12 - "The Mysterious Stranger"The Rifleman Lucy Hallager S1.E40 - "The Mind Reader"The Real McCoys Susan Meade S3.E10 - "The Girl at Mom's Place"General Electric Theater Bride's Friend S8.E4 - "Night Club"The Rebel Elaine Randall S1.E2 - "Judgement"M Squad Mrs. Jim Wilson S3.E7 - "Mama's Boy" (uncredited)Wagon Train Mrs. Sherman S3.E12 - "The St. Nicolas Story"Grand Jury Union Boss's Daughter S1.E13 " Off the Record"Have Gun - Will Travel Anna Ainslee S3.E5 - "Shot by Request"1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966 Death Valley Days Bessie Riggs Martha Clark Virginia Slade Julie Mary Ann Duncan Carrie Huntington S8.E2 - ""Gates Ajar" Morgan" S11.E12 - "The Private Mint of Clark, Gruber and Co." S12.E6 - "The Man Who Died Twice" S12.E25 - "See the Elephant and Hear the Owl" S13.E11 - "A Bargain is for Keeping" S14.E18 - "The Courtship of Carrie Huntington"19591964 The Twilight Zone Nurse Millie S1.E11 - "And When the Sky Was Opened" S5.E20 - "From Agnes - With Love"19591961 Hennesey Linda Shafer Gloria Landis S1.E13 - "The Matchmaker" S2.E24 - "The Green-Eyed Monster"1960 Have Gun - Will Travel Ruth S3.E17 - "The Day of the Bad Man" The Man and the Challenge Phyllis Wright S1.E19 - "The Windowless Room"New Comedy Showcase Lois S1.E1 - "You're Only Young Twice" Bat Masterson Elizabeth S3.E5 - "The Hunter" The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp Lucy Tedder S6.E6 - "Big Brother" The Aquanauts Mimi Newell S1.E9 - "Night Dive" The Roaring 20's Kathy Potter S1.E6 - "Brother's Keeper" S1.E7 - "Judge Seward's Secret" Thriller Kay Salisbury S1.E14 - "Man in the Middle"1960, 1961 Gunsmoke Effie Laura S6.E14 - "The Cook" S7.E9 "Milly" Michael Shayne Georgia Marcella Colby S1.E10 - "Murder Plays Charades" S1.E29 - "The Trouble with Ernie" Perry Mason Betty Wilkins Amy Scott S4.E3 - "The Case of the Ill-Fated Faker" S7.E22 - The Case of the Garrulos Go-Between"1961 Sea Hunt Mary Carter Liz Brenner Peg Nicholson S4.E7 - "Rescue" S4.E32 - "Superman" S4.E37 - "Crime at Sea"The Jim Backus Show Evelyn Darton S1.E21 - "Once Upon A Moose"Lock Up Peggy Tyler S2.E23 - "Fugitive from Fear"The Tom Ewell Show Miss McNulty S1.E20 - "Storm Over Shangri-La"The DuPont Show with June Allyson Ellen Monroe S2.E25 - "The Country Mouse"The Detectives Jean Morley S2.E27 - "Time for Decision"Surfside 6 Maggie Littrell S1.E32 - "Spinout at Sebring"1961, 1965 Bonanza Ann Davis Ann Fleming Sue Watson S43.E10 - "The Horse Breaker" S46.E34 - "Patchwork Man" S7.E9 - "Mighty Is the Word"1962 Margie Miss Franklin S1.E17 - "A Lesson in Teaching"Pete and Gladys Helen S2.E27 - "Maternity House"I'm Dickens, He's Fenster Bianca S1.E6 - "The Acting Game"1963 Saints and Sinners Ann S1.E15 - "Slug It, Miss Joyous"The Dakotas Hardi Masters S1.E13 - "Reformation at Big Nose Butte"Dr. Kildare Emily Gunderson S2.E29 - "The Balance and the Crucible" The Bill Dana Show Margaret Ann Austin S1.E3 - "Jose the Playboy"Ripcord Nora Willis S2.E38 - "Wrong Way Down"196319641965 The Fugitive Jen Ruth Fisher Nurse Thompson S1.E11 - "Nightmare at Northoak" S2.E4 - "When the Bough Breaks" S3.E1 - "Wings of an Angel"1964 Arrest and Trial Maris Hewitt S1.E19 - "Somewhat Lower Than the Angels" Summer Playhouse Linda "Satan's Waitin'"Wendy and Me Ruth Harris S1.E7 - "It Takes Two to Tangle"1965 Profiles in Courage Joan Owens S1.E8 - "Robert A. Taft"Kraft Suspense Theatre Anne Crane S2.E15 - "Four into Zero"My Favorite Martian Miss Turner S2.E22 - "Crash Diet"O.K. Crackerby! Miss Laura Shepherd S1.E3 - "The Griffin Story"I Spy Louise Richards S1.E9 - "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise"The Virginian Sarah Bentley S4.E9 - "Show Me a Hero"The F.B.I. FBI Clerk S1.E12 - "An Elephant Is Like a Rope"1967 Vacation Playhouse Ruth S5.E4 - "Heaven Help Us" (final TV role before retirement)