About Art Carney | The Character Actor Hall of Fame

Early Radio and Recordings

Comedy played a role in the earliest days of Art Carney’s career as he entertained radio audiences in the 1930s. He turned humorous bits into musical numbers with the Horace Heidt orchestra on the wildly successful, big-money giveaway show Pot o’ Gold. His additional comic work, including celebrity impressions of President Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, earned him steady work and popularity during the 1940s. The 1950s saw considerable recording work, including comedy and novelty hits like “The Song of the Sewer,” which he sang in character as Ed Norton!

Art Takes to the Stage

Art began his theatrical career by taking his radio impersonations to nightclubs and vaudeville stages. In 1957 he made his Broadway debut in the drama The Rope Dancers. Returning to comedy, Art co-starred in Take Her, She’s Mine from 1961-1962. He followed with numerous other Broadway performances, including starring opposite Walter Matthau (and later Jack Klugman) as Felix Unger in The Odd Couple from 1965 to 1967. Critical acclaim followed in 1969 when Art earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance in the drama Lovers.

The Honeymooners

Art Carney gained lifetime fame as Ed Norton in The Honeymooners, although he had already performed frequently on television prior to the legendary series, including The Morey Amsterdam Show from 1948-1950. Jackie Gleason was starring on the comedy/variety series Cavalcade of Stars in 1950 when he discovered perfect chemistry with Art in the show’s recurring sketches. The success of The Honeymooners skits led to the launch of the series. Sewer worker Ed Norton and bus driver Ralph Kramden soon became legends. Art received seven Emmy® Award nominations for his comedic brilliance on The Honeymooners, winning an astounding six of the awards.

A Character Acting Legacy

Both on breaks from The Honeymooners and for many years following the show, Art’s television career never let up. He performed countless times, both as a dependable character actor on everything from The Twilight Zone to Batman, and as a musical-variety guest on The Dinah Shore Show, The Dean Martin Show and others. His dramatic performance on The Twilight Zone — as an alcoholic department store Santa Claus who becomes the real Santa — earned him critical accolades. His 1960 performance in the one-man drama Call Me Back was particularly moving, playing a lonely divorced alcoholic attempting unsuccessfully to reach family and acquaintances.

Richly Deserved Honors

In 1974’s Harry and Tonto, Art captured audiences’ hearts and critics’ praise as a retired widower in his 70s whose New York apartment building is torn down to build a parking garage. Harry and his cat Tonto set out across the country, visiting his children and saying goodbye to old friends. Only 55 years old at the time, Art initially declined the role believing the age difference would not work. Director Paul Mazursky convinced him otherwise, and Art whitened his hair, grew a mustache and wore little makeup. Art also chose not to mask his real-life limp from a World War II injury. At the 47th Academy Awards, nominated alongside Albert Finney, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino, Art won the Oscar®.

Brian Carney Shares His Memories

“Hollywood said my father was the sentimental favorite when he won the Oscar for Harry and Tonto. But maybe he won because he was a good actor. I remember that his Twilight Zone appearance as a drunk department store Santa Claus hit a little too close to home. You see, my father had his own demons that not only affected his career, but his personal life as well. It was tough on all of us, but especially tough on him. And then a role came along that gave him the chance to face his demons head-on. In Call Me Back, a man is alone with only a telephone and a bottle of booze. My father eventually returned home and remarried his high school sweetheart, my mother. I know it sounds very cliché, but they truly lived happily ever after.”

Celebrating the Life and Career of Art Carney