Randall Carver (born May 25,[2] 1946[3] is an American actor. Carver started his acting career in the late 1960s, and had roles in films and television. He portrayed John Burns throughout the first season (1978–79) of Taxi.
In the first season (1978–79) of the television sitcom series Taxi, Carver portrayed John Burns, "a naïve student[12] who lands in the taxi business more by default than design."[10][11] Marley Brant in her book Happier Days (2006) praised Carver's acting but found his character John not well developed, even with his wedding subplot.[13] Carver said,
[The writers] were always trying what to do with this guy [...] There were so many characters. Most of us were on the stage at the same time [...] and seemed [like] everybody was kind of vying for their moment in the sun. A couple of times Tony Danza and I changed lines at the director's or producers' requests [...] They'd do retooling and restructuring, and while it was not always pleasant at times, you can sort of see from this distance that everything worked out for the best [...][13]
Carver's character did not return for the second season[12] when Christopher Lloyd was added, having played the character Jim Ignatowski in one episode of the first season.
Post-Taxi career
Carver appeared in other films and television programs thereafter. He made a guest appearance as the fiancé of "a girl from West Virginia" (Loni Anderson) in one segment of the two-part 1980 episode, which was filmed in 1979, of the television series The Love Boat, alongside other guest stars of the similar segment Donny Osmond and Rich Little.[14] He portrayed a killer[15] in the 1980 made-for-television film Detour to Terror.[16] He portrayed Lieutenant Vaughn Beuhler,[15] the "doltish [lieutenant[17] and the station's] program director,"[18] one of the principal characters in the 1980 sitcom The Six O'Clock Follies, set in the television station in Saigon, South Vietnam, in 1967 (during the Vietnam War).[15][17][18] He also appeared in The Norm Show and Malcolm in the Middle in late 1990s and 2000s.[15] Carver portrayed Mr. Bankside in the 2007 film There Will Be Blood.[19]