A sudden burst of fame can feel like winning the lottery. Plenty of actors are willing to sell their souls for a very brief taste of popularity without the slightest consideration that the grass may not be so green on the other side.

Randolph Mantooth was a stage actor before he began guest starring in a series of television programs. From these brief appearances, Mantooth was awarded something treasured: a leading role on a network television series. The actor starred in the NBC medical drama, Emergency!

The series began in 1972, during which time Mantooth became one of the most recognized faces on television. However, the experience of overnight fame wasn’t one he cherished, and he admitted to The Victoria Advocate that the sudden burst of notoriety left him “feeling more and more that I was in some kind of zoo.”

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“Yes, I was an angry young man at one time - and an immature young man too,” said the actor. “Everything happened too fast, and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

In his frustration, Mantooth lashed out at the public.

“I used to go into interviews and say the most outrageous things I could think of just to see the expressions on the interviewers' faces,” said the actor. “Then I’d laugh when I saw them in print. I’d get so angry at the stupid sort of questions the fan magazines would ask.”

Gradually, Mantooth adjusted to fame. At the time of the 1979 interview, he admitted that he was grateful that his rebellion “didn’t hurt me too badly.”