Daily Inspiration Quote by Tony Randall

There is a sly generosity in Tony Randall’s line, the kind that sounds like a throwaway compliment until you notice what it’s quietly pushing against. “These days” is the hinge: it implies a before-and-after story about legitimacy. Theatre in academia used to be treated as extracurricular frosting - charming, but not serious. Randall, a Broadway-hardened actor who also spent years in living rooms as a sitcom star, is crediting universities with catching up to reality: training performers is craft, not whim.

The intent feels practical, even parental. Randall isn’t romanticizing the stage; he’s pointing to infrastructure. “Very good Theatre Departments” signals resources: faculty who’ve actually worked, rehearsal spaces, production budgets, dramaturgy, voice, movement - the unglamorous scaffolding that turns talent into stamina. Coming from an actor who bridged “high” theatre and mass entertainment, it’s also a subtle defense of professional standards in an era when celebrity could masquerade as skill.

The subtext has a cultural edge: universities have become the conservatories America never fully built. In a country that often asks artists to hustle first and learn later, Randall is endorsing an alternate pipeline - one that can socialize young actors into ensemble discipline rather than solo stardom. The line also carries a wink of relief: the old snobbery that real actors only come up the hard way is losing ground. If the academy is finally good at theatre, it means the art form is being taken seriously where prestige gets manufactured.