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HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- With a turned-up porkpie hat and slapstick shtick, Art Carney turned "The Honeymooners" sidekick Ed Norton into one of the most memorable characters in television history.
He later took home the 1974 Oscar for best actor in "Harry and Tonto," but it was as the upstairs sewer worker neighbor to Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the 1950s that Carney will be best remembered.
Carney, who had been ill for some time, was buried during a small, private ceremony Tuesday, two days after he died in Chester. He was 85.
Kramden and his not-too-bright bowling buddy, Norton, appeared in various forms from 1951 to 1956, and the show -- still in syndication on cable stations -- was revived briefly in 1971.
With his unbuttoned vest over a white T-shirt, Carney's 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."
In one episode, Norton and Kramden 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. Another time, the loose-limbed Norton teaches Kramden a finger-popping new dance called the Hucklebuck.
"I loved Art Carney," said actor Billy Bob Thornton. "I was a huge fan of `The Honeymooners' and I loved Jackie Gleason, who was a genius. But I was probably more struck by Art Carney than Gleason. You just couldn't wait for him to come through the door again."
Carney 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."'
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/12/obit.carney.ap/index.html
He later took home the 1974 Oscar for best actor in "Harry and Tonto," but it was as the upstairs sewer worker neighbor to Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the 1950s that Carney will be best remembered.
Carney, who had been ill for some time, was buried during a small, private ceremony Tuesday, two days after he died in Chester. He was 85.
Kramden and his not-too-bright bowling buddy, Norton, appeared in various forms from 1951 to 1956, and the show -- still in syndication on cable stations -- was revived briefly in 1971.
With his unbuttoned vest over a white T-shirt, Carney's 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."
In one episode, Norton and Kramden 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. Another time, the loose-limbed Norton teaches Kramden a finger-popping new dance called the Hucklebuck.
"I loved Art Carney," said actor Billy Bob Thornton. "I was a huge fan of `The Honeymooners' and I loved Jackie Gleason, who was a genius. But I was probably more struck by Art Carney than Gleason. You just couldn't wait for him to come through the door again."
Carney 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."'
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/12/obit.carney.ap/index.html
