[8] Aged fourteen, Randell participated in a few sketches at a social acting club and did an unpaid job for radio station 2UE.

[8] He soon established himself as a leading male juvenile for radio, acting for 2KY Players, George Edwards, BAP and on Lux Playhouse.

[11] Randell made his legitimate stage debut aged 19, in a production of Quiet Wedding at the Minerva Theatre in Sydney.

Unable to serve because he was suffering tuberculosis (although he also claimed it was due to sinus trouble), he travelled to the US in mid 1943 and sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

[19][20][21] In October 1944, Randell made his feature film debut in A Son Is Born, opposite Peter Finch and Muriel Steinbeck.

[22] His big break came in November 1944, when he was spotted by producer Nick Perry at the Minerva Theatre performing in While the Sun Shines with Finch.

[23] This led to Randell being cast as the lead in Smithy, a biographical film about the pioneering Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who made the first flight across the Pacific (from the United States to Australia) in 1928.

Producer Perry said, "Randell has been selected not only for his achievements as a fine actor, but as the type of virile Australian who embodies the spirit and qualities so typified by 'Smithy.'

[26] Smithy had been made with funds from Columbia Pictures, who offered Randell a long-term contract and he moved to Hollywood in October 1946.

[27][28] Producers Lou Appleton and Bud Small had a deal with Columbia to make a new series of pictures about Bulldog Drummond.

[33][34] This was followed by The Sign of the Ram (1948)[35] and the $2 million spectacular The Loves of Carmen (1948), where Randell was billed after Columbia's two biggest stars, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford.

"[33] The same month it was reported he had obtained the screen rights to a story Hebridies Adventure by James MacFarlane and was trying to interest Columbia in making it.

One review said "as an account of those experiences, ending with some pious aspirations concerning the talkies as an instrument for world peace, it's not too bad.

In November 1948 a Washington Post profile called Randell "a lot of fun, looks a bit like James Mason.

[49] In April, he appeared in a production of Kraft Television Theatre, Wicked Is the Vine, based on a play by Australian Sumner Locke Elliott.

In July 1949 he appeared on stage in Los Angeles in a production of Major Barbara and said he did not want to make any more "B"s. "I know I've surprised quite a few Hollywood people, because they have never seen me working in something really good", he said.

He filmed this at the same time he was cast in a double-bill Terence Rattigan plays, The Browning Version and Harlequinade, supporting Maurice Evans and directed by Peter Glenville.

[54] Randell was meant to follow Browning Version with The Enchanted but his employment was over-ruled by Actors Equity who said that as a foreigner he should have to wait six months before appearing in another play.

However, before the play went to New York, a production was seen by Sir Cedric Hardwicke whose wife was in the show; it resulted in Randell being replaced by Jack Watling.

He followed it with Captive Women (1952), a low budget science fiction film for RKO, in which Variety said he "occasionally shows himself to be a first rate actor.

"[64] Brooks Atkinson, reviewing Randell's performance in Candida, said he was "intelligent and manly but... leaves out the pompousness essential to the part and the play".

[66] In August 1952, Randell's name was mentioned in connection with two films to be made about Australia with Paulette Goddard, The Queen's Mask and Melba.

[71] While playing in Sweet Peril he also made the film The Girl on the Pier (1953) and appeared in "American Duel" on TV for Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.

Randell appeared in "Theatre Royal" on the BBC then took over as the Summer replacement for the host of the British TV series What's My Line?

There was an incident when he and fellow members of the play's cast – including Americans Jeffrey Lynn and Lee Tracy – were locked in a hotel room for not paying their bill.

[83] In September 1956 Randell told the press, "With this present phase of making films all over the world, an actor has to be ready to pack up and keep moving.

[99] Randell returned to Australia in 1969 to explore the possibilities of producing a play there, Houseboat in Kashmir, by the team of Jerome and Lee.

[100] While in Australia he guest-starred in episodes of local TV series like The Rovers and The Long Arm, and discussed projects with Reg Goldsworthy.

[101][102] Randell returned to Australia again in 1971 to direct and star in a stage play, Come Live with Me, at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney.

[114] He had a romance with Hildegarde Christian[115] then married Laya Raki in 1956, and they remained together until his death in Los Angeles in 2005[116] following a stroke.