Comedian Art Carney has died

TresHappy

I just heard that Jackie Gleason's sidekick on the Honeymooners, Art Carney, has died. He died Sunday in his Connecticut home. We've lost another Hollywood classic fella!

Actor Art Carney dies at 85

04:05 PM CST on Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Associated Press

CHESTER, Conn. ? Art Carney, who played Jackie Gleason'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, a funeral home manager says.

Carney died Sunday, said Philip M. Appell of the Swan Funeral Home in Old Saybrook.

Carney would be forever identified as Norton, Ralph Kramden's bowling buddy and upstairs neighbor on "The Honeymooners." The sitcom appeared in various forms from 1951 to 1956 and was revived briefly in 1971. The shows continue their popularity on cable TV and videocassettes.

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

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

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. 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."'

sens

who is he?....ive never heard of him

NEWWORLDSLACKER

Poor olde Norton .....it was his time .

RIP-NORTON

NwS- AKA NORTON

jgnat

aaah, Sens. Our generation gap is showing. Art Carney played on the Honeymooners. Here is a short biography,

http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=13433

Gopher

This is sad. Art Carney will be missed.

His portrayal of Ralph's wise-cracking friend on "The Honeymooners" made him one of my two favorite characters on the show (the other being Ralph's wife Alice).

He was a comic genius -- and I'm not exaggerating.

I didn't know he created the "Oscar" role on the Odd Couple later played by Walter Matthau in the film version and by Jack Klugman on TV. Wow.

We're losing our great stars from TV's Golden Age.

TresHappy

Remember when Art Carney did the voice of Gazoo on The Flintstones?

Gopher

Here are some quotes from a news story:

"The first time I saw the guy act," [Jackie] 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.

As far as your Flintstones reference, the two married couples on "The Honeymooners" were the models for the couples on "the Flintstones". The Kramdens became the Flintstones, and the Nortons became the Rubbles. I always liked Barney Rubble, even though he wasn't as funny as Carney's Norton character.

William Penwell

It is sad another of the great character actors dead. I really got a kick out of his Kramden role on the honeymooners. I think he was also under rated as a serious actor. I remember a role he played in a Twilight Zone episode called, "The Night of the Meek" He played "Henry Corwin" a store Santa. It was very touching and one of the most memorable Twilight Zone episodes. If any of you haven't seen it is well worth seeing.

Will

Comedian Art Carney has died

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