WaPo reports the passing of another Hollywood legend:
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.
Carney died in Chester, Conn., on Sunday and was buried on Tuesday after a small, private funeral. 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 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.”
Oddly, as often happens with older stars, I thought I remembered him dying some time ago.
For whatever reason, I never really liked the “Honeymooners,” as critically acclaimed as the show was, even though I thought all the actors played their roles superbly. The show never had the warmth of the great television comedies, like “The Andy Griffith Show.”
