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Art Carney Dies at 85 (1 Viewer)

Mark Bendiksen

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CNN is reporting that the great Art Carney has died. Although he was probably best known for "The Honeymooners", he had many wonderful film roles in his career. I think one of my favorites was Going in Style, which I long to see released on DVD someday.

Rest in Peace, Art.

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Peter Apruzzese

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If Gleason was "The Great One", it was in no small part due to Carney.

RIP :frowning:

"Official space helmet off, Captain Video wherever you are...'
 

Peter Kline

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'Honeymooners' Actor Art Carney Dies

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. - Art Carney (news), who played Jackie Gleason (news)'s sewer worker pal Ed Norton in the TV classic "The Honeymooners" and went on to win the 1974 Oscar for best actor in "Harry and Tonto," has died at 85.

Carney died in Chester, Conn., on Sunday. He had been ill for some time.

The comic actor would be forever identified as Norton, Ralph Kramden's bowling buddy and not-too-bright upstairs neighbor on "The Honeymooners." The sitcom appeared in various forms from 1951 to 1956 and was revived briefly in 1971. The shows can still be seen on cable.

With his turned-up porkpie hat and unbuttoned vest over a white T-shirt, Carney's Ed Norton with his dopily exuberant "Hey, Ralphie boy!" became an ideal foil for Gleason's blustery, bullying Kramden. Carney won three Emmys for his role and his first taste of fame.

"The first time I saw the guy act," Gleason once said, "I knew I would have to work twice as hard for my laughs. He was funny as hell."

In one episode, he and Ralph learn to golf from an instruction book. Told to "address the ball," Norton gives a wave of the hand and says, "Hellooooo, ball!" In another episode, Norton inadvertently wins the award for best costume at a Raccoon Lodge party by showing up in his sewer worker's gear.

He told a Saturday Evening Post interviewer in 1961 that strangers were always asking him how he liked it down in the sewer. "I have seasonal answers," he said. "In the summer: `I like it down there because it's cool.' In the winter: `I like it down there because it's warm.' Then I've got one that isn't seasonal: `Go to hell.'"

After "The Honeymooners," Carney battled a drinking problem for several years. His behavior became erratic while co-starring with Walter Matthau (news) in the Broadway run of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple." He dropped out of the show and spent nearly half a year in a sanitarium.

His career resumed, and in 1974 he was cast in Paul Mazurksy's "Harry and Tonto" as a 72-year-old widower who travels from New York to Chicago with his pet cat. He stopped drinking during the making of the film.

When it won him his Oscar, Carney cracked to reporters: "You're looking at an actor whose price has just doubled."

"Art was, and is one of the most endearing men I have ever met," the late actress Audrey Meadows (the caustic Alice Kramden on "The Honeymooners") wrote in her 1994 memoir "Love, Alice." She called him a "witty and delightful companion who went out of his way to help each new actor find his niche in the often bewildering world of `The Jackie Gleason Show.'"

Carney was born into an Irish-Catholic family in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Nov. 4, 1918, and baptized Arthur William Matthew Carney. His father was a newspaperman and publicist.

After appearing in amateur theatricals and imitating radio personalities, Carney won a job in 1937 traveling with Horace Heidt's dance band, doing his impressions and singing novelty songs.

"There I was, an 18-year-old mimic rooming with a blind whistler," he told People magazine in 1974. "He would order gin and grapefruit juice for us in the morning, and it was great. ... No responsibilities, no remorse. I was an alcoholic, even then."

He left Heidt and tried playing standup comedy in nightclubs. He failed. But he won a job at $225 a week imitating Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and other world leaders on a radio show, "Report to the Nation."

He was drafted into the Army in 1944 and took part in the D-Day landing at Normandy. A piece of shrapnel shattered his right leg. He was left with a leg three-quarters of an inch shorter than the other and a lifelong limp.

Carney returned to radio as second banana on comedy shows, then ventured into television on "The Morey Amsterdam Show" in 1947. That brought him to the attention of Gleason.

Among his movie credits: "W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings," "The Late Show," "House Calls," "Movie Movie," "Sunburn," "Going in Style," "Roadie," "Firestarter," "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Last Action Hero."

Carney married his high school sweetheart, Jean Myers, in 1940. After the marriage broke up, Carney married Barbara Isaac in 1966. They divorced 10 years later, and in 1980 he and his first wife remarried.

"We always kept in touch because of our three children," he said in a 1980 AP interview. "After our second divorces, it was sort of like the puppy coming home: `Oh, it's you, come on in.' We decided to give it a go again."
 

Paul Drake

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Ed Norton: Helloooooo Ball!!!

Great line from a very underrated actor. Comedy or drama, he could do it all.

This leaves Joyce Randolph as the sole surviving "Honeymooner".
 

Michael Reuben

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Notwithstanding the movie connection (the man has an Oscar, after all), I'm going to redirect this to the TV forum, because I think that's where most people would expect to find it. In fact, another thread has been started there, which I'll merge with this one.

M.
 

Jack Briggs

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And Harry and Tonto is a beloved, sentimental favorite of mine I would love dearly to see Fox commit to DVD. Sad thing is, Mr. Carney's death may well be what brings the film to disc.
 

Kristian

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Ed Norton is still one of the funniest characters in TV history. Rest in peace, Art. :frowning:

2003 has been a terribly sad year.
 

Henry Gale

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Seeing the Honeymooners all over cable as a child...
Once again confirming my place in Geezerville....I watched these shows "first run."

That set must have cost $50.00; 2 doors, a window, a stove, one dining room set.
 

Paul Drake

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Once again confirming my place in Geezerville....I watched these shows "first run."
I don't consider you a resident of Geezerville. I think you're very fortunate to have been able to witness history in the making. It's pretty amazing to think that a show that people used to watch on 7" television sets via a very fuzzy picture is now available for home viewing in excellent picture quality using the latest modern technology.

As recently as several years ago, Mr. Carney was doing his Norton bit for the TVLand Network for use as promotional spots.

Although primarily a George Burns vehicle, I also enjoyed "Going In Style". He also was in James Cagney's last (forgettable) film "Terrible Joe Moran".
 

Dave Mack

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My dad did extra work on the Jackie Gleason show back in the day and told me that Carney would entertain the cast and crew backstage just playing the piano, which he was very adept at. It's a sad day, been a sad year... Art, we will miss you. RIP
 

LewB

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"Hey Ralphie-Boy, mind if I smoke?"
"I don't care if you burn !"

Channel 11 in NYC usually plays a Honeymooners marathon on New Years' eve into New Years Day. I think I'll raise a glass to Ed Norton in the wee small hours of '04. :frowning:
 

TonyD

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Channel 11 in NYC usually plays a Honeymooners marathon on New Years' eve into New Years Day. I think I'll raise a glass to Ed Norton in the wee small hours of '04.
this was were i first saw this show when i was a youngin way back in the late 70's early 80's.

it always came on the same time at nite about 1 am.

this was when i was down the shore for the summer.
channel 11 always had those great old shows like honeymooners and life of reilly, and others i can't remember now.
 

John Watson

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I think there was a rumour hereabouts a few weeks ago about a movie remake of the Honeymooners.

I suggested Ed Norton could play Norton, and now, can I suggest, maybe John Goodman as the Great One?
 

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