Mike Randall (entertainer)

Michael E. Randall (born November 2, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, meteorologist and reporter from Buffalo, New York. He is best known within his native Western New York for his long run on WKBW-TV, where was an on-air personality for 40 years from 1983 to 2023 and was the chief meteorologist from 1999 to 2013, and outside Western New York for his stage shows.

Mike Randall
Born
Michael E. Randall

(1953-11-02) November 2, 1953
United States
Occupation(s)Meteorologist, actor, playwright

Television career

Randall holds seals of approval from the National Weather Association (seal #9708542, which he has held since at least the early 1990s)[1] and the American Meteorological Society (seal #1558, which he earned some time in the 2000s).[2] Randall was the first and, until one-time Randall protege Andy Parker also earned his NWA seal, the only television meteorologist in Western New York to carry the NWA seal. His broadcasting education was obtained from Onondaga Community College, among others (Randall never actually graduated and had dropped out of four different colleges by the start of his broadcast career).[3]

Prior to 1983, Randall worked at WFSB in Hartford and WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, as well as a brief stint as a commercial spokesman[4] for, among others, the New York Lottery in 1978.

Randall joined WKBW-TV in 1983 as a feature reporter, filling a role previously held by Don Polec.[4] His features are still occasionally rerun on WKBW today. In 1989, Randall was paired with Ann Edwards to host Good Morning Western New York, the first morning newscast in the Buffalo market. The series was originally conceived as being similar in format to The David Letterman Show, the short-lived morning show hosted by David Letterman in 1980, with an emphasis on humor.[4] The show required him to learn weather forecasting, and although Tom Jolls had told Randall that a formal meteorology degree was not necessary, Randall enrolled in the program at Mississippi State University and earned a bachelor's degree in meteorology.[3] From 1992 through 1993, Randall was named "Captain" of the children's television program Rocketship 7, on which he appeared with his wife and son.[4] Upon Jolls's retirement in 1999, Randall was named chief meteorologist and moved to the station's evening newscasts. He was moved back to mornings in 2009 in an effort to revive the ratings of Good Morning Western New York.

In 2013, Randall came to an agreement with WKBW to keep him at the station through the end of 2015. The agreement reduces Randall's workload (Randall moved to weekends in September 2014) and grants him the title of senior meteorologist, allowing him to focus more time on his stage work.[5][6] In September 2015, Randall renewed his contract with WKBW through the end of 2017.[7] As part of the agreement, Randall was to move to a new weekend morning newscast (which never debuted), to make way for Don Paul, whom WKBW signed to cover weekend evenings.[8]

Randall is a 2017 inductee of the Buffalo Broadcasters Association's 2017 Hall of Fame.[9]

On July 19, 2023, Randall announced his retirement from WKBW, with his final appearance scheduled for August 24. Randall's departure comes 40 years after his arrival at the station.[4]

Acting and theatrical work

Randall is known as a character actor and impersonator performing primarily in one-man shows. His best known impersonations are those of 19th century authors Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. The Twain performances are known as Mark Twain Live! and have been running since 1972.[10] As Dickens, Randall traditionally recites the book A Christmas Carol as Dickens used to do on stage during his lifetime.[11][12][13][14] He studied theater at State University of New York at Geneseo.

In 1975, Hal Holbrook, the creator of Mark Twain Tonight, filed a lawsuit against the then 22-year-old Randall alleging that Randall had plagiarized Holbrook's work, singling out Randall mainly because he had done a show in New York City, infringing on Holbrook's territory, and because he wanted to use the "accessible" Randall as an example to deter further Twain impersonators from plagiarizing his work. The two reached a settlement stating that Randall could not use any of Holbrook's work in future productions, but that Randall could continue impersonating Twain.[15]

Randall also has a puppet show, "Reading is Magic with Mike Randall and Friends," which is geared toward children and encourages them to read.

In 2016, Randall wrote Shoot the Weatherman, a short two-hander one-act play in which a lawyer takes a meteorologist hostage for making an inaccurate forecast.[16] It was followed in 2017 with Guns and Roses, a comedy in which a churchgoing couple purchases a gun to their young adult son's dismay.[17]

Outside of his own shows, Randall has also appeared in Shakespeare in Delaware Park[18] and at Buffalo's New Phoenix Theatre.[19]

References
  1. List of NWA Seal of Approval holders Archived 2013-06-17 at the Wayback Machine. From the National Weather Association. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  2. List of AMS Seal of Approval holders. From the American Meteorological Society. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  3. Pergament, Alan (July 21, 2013). Mike Randall is channel 7's mainstay and will be for three more years. The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  4. Pergament, Alan (2023-07-19). "WKBW's Mike Randall set to retire after record 40 years at the station". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  5. Pergament, Alan (June 27, 2013). Randall babbles, Parker changes diapers and more morning news Archived 2013-06-30 at the Wayback Machine. The Buffalo News. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  6. Pergament, Alan (August 11, 2014). Ch.7's Randall moving to weekends Archived 2014-08-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Buffalo News. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  7. Pergament, Alan (September 15, 2015). Channel 7's Randall, Morse, Drantch and Lewandowski have new deals Archived 2015-09-18 at the Wayback Machine. The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  8. "Don Paul expected to join Ch.7 part time in September; Dorenbos gets Golden Buzzer on "AGT" - Talkin' TV". Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  9. "Announcing the 2017 Hall of Fame Inductees - Buffalo Broadcasters Association". Buffalobroadcasters.com. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  10. Mike Randall celebrates 50 years performing Mark Twain Live
  11. Mike Randall to appear at SCA. Springville Journal. 5 December 2008.
  12. Deluca, Michelle (2007-11-30). RANDALL AS DICKENS: Weatherman brings “A Christmas Carol” to life Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine. Tonawanda News. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  13. ON STAGE: A look at area theater productions. Batavia Daily News (2010-04-29). Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  14. Author unstated (2010-07-14). ‘Mark Twain Live’ To Play 1891 Fredonia Opera House Archived 2010-07-18 at the Wayback Machine. The Post-Journal. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  15. Randall, Mike. Randall vs Holbrook vs Twain. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
  16. Theatre Review: ‘Buffalo Quickies 2016’ at Alleyway Theatre Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine. New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  17. Buffalo Quickies continues, entertain, carry strong voice. The Buffalo News (February 24, 2017). Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  18. Kibler, Kristy (August 13, 2014). Mike Randall takes on Shakespeare. The Buffalo News. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  19. Buckley, Eileen (March 30, 2015). Local meteorologist portrays priest in Angels Fall. WBFO. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
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