Art Carney was born 95 years ago today. An actor in film, stage, television and radio, Carney is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleasons Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners, and for winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Harry and Tonto. Carney, youngest of six sons (Fred, Jack, Ned, Phil, Robert), was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Helen (née Farrell) and Edward Michael Carney, who was a newspaper man and publicist. His family was Irish American and Catholic. Carney attended A B Davis High School and was drafted as an infantryman during World War II. During the Battle of Normandy, he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Carney was a comic singer with the Horace Heidt orchestra, which was heard often on radio during the 1930s, notably on the hugely successful Pot o Gold, the first big-money giveaway show in 1939–41. Carneys film career began with an uncredited role in Pot o Gold (1941), the radio programs spin-off feature film, playing a member of Heidts band. Carney, a gifted mimic, worked steadily in radio during the 1940s, playing character roles and impersonating celebrities. In 1941 he was the house comic on the big band remote series, Matinee at Meadowbrook. In 1950, Jackie Gleason was starring in a New York–based comedy-variety series, Cavalcade of Stars, and played many different characters. Gleasons regular characters included Charlie Bratten, a lunchroom loudmouth who insisted on spoiling a neighboring patrons meal. Carney, established in New York as a reliable actor, played Brattens mild-mannered victim, Clem Finch. Gleason and Carney developed a good working chemistry, and Gleason recruited Carney to appear in other sketches, including the domestic-comedy skits featuring The Honeymooners. Carney gained lifelong fame for his portrayal of sewer worker Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleasons Ralph Kramden. The success of these skits resulted in the famous filmed situation comedy The Honeymooners, and the Honeymooners revivals that followed. He was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and won six. Between his stints with Gleason, Carney worked steadily as a character actor. He guest starred on NBCs The Martha Raye Show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show and many others, including as a mystery guest on Whats My Line? which he attended dressed as Ed Norton. Carney also had his own NBC television variety show from 1959 to 1960. In the season two opening episode of the Batman television series, titled Shoot a Crooked Arrow (1966), Carney gave a memorable performance as the newly introduced villain The Archer. Carney died in his sleep on November 9, 2003, at age 85 of natural causes near his home in Westbrook, Connecticut. Here, Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in a scene from The Honeymooners.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 22:37:43 +0000
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