Aging & Wisdom Quote by Tony Randall

Randall’s compliment lands with the faint edge of someone who’s watched the pipeline change in real time. “Well trained” is praise, sure, but it’s also a value judgment from an actor forged in an era when “training” often meant repertory grind, vaudeville stamina, and learning by failing in front of paying audiences. By singling out “Universities,” he acknowledges the professionalization of acting: performance as a credentialed discipline, not merely a calling or a hustle.

The phrasing is notably restrained. He doesn’t say the young actors are more inspired, braver, or funnier. He says they’re trained, which hints at both admiration and a quiet worry: training can produce polish that reads as competence rather than presence. Randall, best known to mass audiences for The Odd Couple but deeply rooted in stage craft, likely valued technique as an ethical commitment to the work. In that light, his line becomes a defense against the old romantic myth that acting is pure instinct. He’s arguing for craft, for a baseline of rigor.

There’s also a generational détente in the sentence. Instead of complaining about “kids these days,” Randall grants them legitimacy on the terms the industry was beginning to reward: conservatories, BFA programs, the rise of standardized methods and audition-ready versatility. Underneath, you can hear an actor noticing that the gatekeepers have changed, and choosing generosity over nostalgia. It’s a small sentence that treats acting like a profession with standards, not a lottery of charisma.