Port Richey's Randal Goldsborough channeled 'madness' into Shakespeare

PORT RICHEY — His friends and relatives can't explain why Randal Goldsborough was obsessed with Shakespeare. They just know that he was.

Mr. Goldsborough devoted much of his adult life — at least several hours a day — to analyzing the bard's works and trying to make them more accessible to young people.

The great-grandson of William J. Burns, "America's Sherlock Holmes" who founded Burns Detective Agency, Mr. Goldsborough lived off an inheritance and a veterans disability pension.

The Ossining, N.Y., native got his start in acting early. He studied theater at Butler University, but went to Vietnam in 1969. He spent a year in the infantry, then returned for a theater degree. Mr. Goldsborough could do a spot-on impersonation of Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain, or perform any of the characters in Hamlet, a play he pretty much knew by heart. His favorite actor was Laurence Olivier, whom he met while enrolled in the London School of Speech and Drama.

In New York, Mr. Goldsborough drove a cab, worked as a security guard and acted in off-off-Broadway productions of plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, Chekhov, Neil Simon and others. He was a student of Shakespearean acting coach Roger Hendricks Simon. Mr. Goldsborough used that training in one-man performances of Shakespeare characters he created himself, which he pitched to schools and performed for free. He used his experiences, including diagnoses of bi-polar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, to relate to students, hoping they could in turn relate to Shakespeare.

"Human nature being what it is," he wrote in an autobiographical essay, "as I introduce myself as someone who has been 'mad,' students won't help but search my eyes and my face for the tell-tale signs of madness. 'Does it show?' This may add an element of 'wonder,' as students … might pay even closer attention."

He lived alone, in a New York apartment across from a diner where he ate all of his meals. "He would come in three to four times a day," said Maria Koirala, who owns Shining Star Restaurant. "He used to talk about Shakespeare."

There was a down side, such as when Mr. Goldsborough resisted taking his medications.

"Sometimes he would stay up all day and all night writing things and developing ideas," said his brother, Jack Goldsborough.

He had a hard time holding jobs. In 2004, he moved to Port Richey, following an old college girlfriend. The relationship didn't last, but Mr. Goldsborough had recently finished the work of his life — a scene-by-scene narration of Hamlet for high school students.

He satisfied this goal as his diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease worsened. Almost two weeks ago, neighbors noticed Mr. Goldsborough had not left his apartment and newspapers were piling up outside. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office broke in and found his body. Mr. Goldsborough died Aug. 12 of his illnesses, his family said. He was 63.

Andrew Meacham can be reached at (727) 892-2248 or ameacham@sptimes.com.