Randee Heller

Randee Heller, born Randee Antzis on June 10, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City, is an American actress whose career spans Broadway, television, and film. She grew up in West Hempstead, New York, on Long Island, and is of Russian Jewish heritage. After initially enrolling at Emerson College in Boston, she returned to Long Island and earned a degree in theater from Adelphi University in 1969.

Following graduation, Heller was cast in an Off-Broadway production of Godspell. Her Broadway career began in 1972, when she took on multiple roles in Hurry, Harry, running for two performances in October of that year. That same year she joined the cast of Grease, playing Betty Rizzo as a replacement in the long-running production. In 1978, she relocated from New York to California to pursue film and television opportunities.

Heller's first prominent television role came on the ABC sitcom Soap, where she portrayed Alice, one of the first recurring lesbian characters in American television history. The role drew attention for its portrayal of a gay woman, though critical commentary focused largely on the network's constraints on how the character could be depicted. Producers required her newly permed hair to be straightened before filming, and physical expressions of affection between Alice and her girlfriend were prohibited during production. Heller later described the limitations placed on the character's behavior as reflecting the caution of the era.

Her film career gained significant momentum when she was cast as Lucille LaRusso, the single mother of Daniel LaRusso played by Ralph Macchio, in The Karate Kid. She reprised the role in a cameo in The Karate Kid Part III. Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel noted her absence from the second film, calling her portrayal of a single parent in the original one of its genuine pleasures. Macchio himself advocated for her inclusion, citing the emotional weight of their scenes together. Heller also provided the voice of the woman who calls Rocky a bum in the first Rocky film. Additional film credits include Fast Break (1979), Bulworth (1998), Monster-in-Law (2005), and Crazylove (2005).

On television, Heller held a starring role in the 1979 television film Can You Hear the Laughter? The Story of Freddie Prinze, playing a character named Carol, and appeared in And Your Name is Jonah the same year. She was a regular on the single-season series Husbands, Wives & Lovers in 1978 and led three short-lived sitcoms: Mama Malone in 1984, Better Days in 1986, and Second Chance in 1987. Guest appearances across her career include roles on Murder, She Wrote, ALF, Nip/Tuck, Judging Amy, Felicity, Fame, Night Court, Drake & Josh, and The White Shadow, among others. In the fourth season of AMC's Mad Men in 2010, she played Ida Blankenship, the elderly secretary to Bert Cooper and Don Draper, earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She also played the recurring character Margot, Ryan's neighbor, on the American version of Wilfred. In a 2010 episode of Grey's Anatomy, she appeared as the partner of a female patient, again portraying a lesbian character. Since 2018, Heller has reprised the role of Lucille LaRusso in the streaming series Cobra Kai.

Her stage work beyond Broadway includes productions of Bermuda Avenue Triangle, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, and Cabaret. In 2000, she played the role of Barbra Streisand's mother in Streisand's Timeless concert performances, doing so after having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and undergoing a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Heller has been in a long-term relationship with television writer-producer and former mime Robert Griffard and has two daughters.