# 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 seventeen-year career (1950 to 1967) was spent in episodes of TV series, and one film (1957). 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.$^{:1189}$
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 twenties. 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 Brothers 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 S7E9's “Millie”, and as "Effie Strayhorn" in S6E14's "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 the 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 was married to Peter Blake Powell, with whom she had two children. She later married James J. McSparron, to whom she was married at the time of her death.

## Later years and death

Randall retired from acting in 1967 after performing in the episode "Heaven Help Us" on the televised anthology series Vacation Playhouse. 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 and larynx cancer at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia on October 26, 1984, at age 49.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950 | A Wonderful Life | College Girl Holding Newspaper | Short film (uncredited) |
| 1955 | Star Tonight | | S1.E17 - "Golden Victory" |
| 1955 | Ponds Theater | | S2.E37 - "Life and Taxes" |
| 1955–1956 | Valiant Lady | Diane Emerson Soames #3 | 510 episodes |
| 1957 | Playhouse 90 | Kitty Verdun | S1.E26 - "Where's Charley?" |
| 1957 | Desk Set | Ruthie Saylor | Only full-length film role |
| 1957–1958 | Matinee Theatre | | S2.E213 - "The Awakening" S3.E129 - "The Canterville Ghost" |
| 1958 | Bronco | Hope Cabot | S1.E1. - "The Besieged" |
| 1958 | Steve Canyon | Sgt. Addie Malone | S1.E5 - "Operation Jettison" |
| 1958 | The Millionaire | Kate | S5.E11 - "The Newman Johnson Story" |
| 1958 1962 | Leave It to Beaver | Miss Alice Landers | 28 episodes |
| 1959, 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" |
| 1959 | The Rifleman | Lucy Hallager | S1.E40 - "The Mind Reader" |
| 1959 | The Real McCoys | Susan Meade | S3.E10 - "The Girl at Mom's Place" |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater | Bride's Friend | S8.E4 - "Night Club" |
| 1959 | The Rebel | Elaine Randall | S1.E2 - "Judgement" |
| 1959 | M Squad | Mrs. Jim Wilson | S3.E7 - "Mama's Boy" (uncredited) |
| 1959 | Wagon Train | Mrs. Sherman | S3.E12 - "The St. Nicolas Story" |
| 1959 | Grand Jury | Union Boss's Daughter | S1.E13 " Off the Record" |
| 1959 | 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" |
| 1959 1964 | The Twilight Zone | Nurse Millie | S1.E11 - "And When the Sky Was Opened" S5.E20 - "From Agnes - With Love" |
| 1959 1961 | 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" |
| 1960 | The Man and the Challenge | Phyllis Wright | S1.E19 - "The Windowless Room" |
| 1960 | New Comedy Showcase | Lois | S1.E1 - "You're Only Young Twice" |
| 1960 | Bat Masterson | Elizabeth | S3.E5 - "The Hunter" |
| 1960 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Lucy Tedder | S6.E6 - "Big Brother" |
| 1960 | The Aquanauts | Mimi Newell | S1.E9 - "Night Dive" |
| 1960 | The Roaring 20's | Kathy Potter | S1.E6 - "Brother's Keeper" S1.E7 - "Judge Seward's Secret" |
| 1960 | Thriller | Kay Salisbury | S1.E14 - "Man in the Middle" |
| 1960, 1961 | Gunsmoke | Effie Laura | S6.E14 - "The Cook" S7.E9 "Milly" |
| 1960, 1961 | Michael Shayne | Georgia Marcella Colby | S1.E10 - "Murder Plays Charades" S1.E29 - "The Trouble with Ernie" |
| 1960, 1961 | 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" |
| 1961 | The Jim Backus Show | Evelyn Darton | S1.E21 - "Once Upon A Moose" |
| 1961 | Lock Up | Peggy Tyler | S2.E23 - "Fugitive from Fear" |
| 1961 | The Tom Ewell Show | Miss McNulty | S1.E20 - "Storm Over Shangri-La" |
| 1961 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Ellen Monroe | S2.E25 - "The Country Mouse" |
| 1961 | The Detectives | Jean Morley | S2.E27 - "Time for Decision" |
| 1961 | 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" |
| 1962 | Pete and Gladys | Helen | S2.E27 - "Maternity House" |
| 1962 | I'm Dickens, He's Fenster | Bianca | S1.E6 - "The Acting Game" |
| 1963 | Saints and Sinners | Ann | S1.E15 - "Slug It, Miss Joyous" |
| 1963 | The Dakotas | Hardi Masters | S1.E13 - "Reformation at Big Nose Butte" |
| 1963 | Dr. Kildare | Emily Gunderson | S2.E29 - "The Balance and the Crucible" |
| 1963 | The Bill Dana Show | Margaret Ann Austin | S1.E3 - "Jose the Playboy" |
| 1963 | Ripcord | Nora Willis | S2.E38 - "Wrong Way Down" |
| 1963 1964 1965 | 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" |
| 1964 | Summer Playhouse | Linda | "Satan's Waitin'" |
| 1964 | Wendy and Me | Ruth Harris | S1.E7 - "It Takes Two to Tangle" |
| 1965 | Profiles in Courage | Joan Owens | S1.E8 - "Robert A. Taft" |
| 1965 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Anne Crane | S2.E15 - "Four into Zero" |
| 1965 | My Favorite Martian | Miss Turner | S2.E22 - "Crash Diet" |
| 1965 | O.K. Crackerby! | Miss Laura Shepherd | S1.E3 - "The Griffin Story" |
| 1965 | I Spy | Louise Richards | S1.E9 - "No Exchange on Damaged Merchandise" |
| 1965 | The Virginian | Sarah Bentley | S4.E9 - "Show Me a Hero" |
| 1965 | '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) |