Post by Taxigirl on Nov 12, 2003 10:26:12 GMT
TV and film star Art Carney, an Oscar winner for his part in the 1974 film Harry and Tonto, has died aged 85.
Carney was also well-known for his role in the 1950s US TV show The Honeymooners, where he played sewer worker Ed Norton.
His career was blighted by a long battle with alcohol. He gave up drink when he made Harry and Tonto, which won him the best actor Oscar in 1975.
He was also in The Muppets Take Manhattan and The Last Action Hero.
Carney, who died on Sunday in Connecticut, played Ed Norton from 1951 to 1956. The character was the neighbour and bowling buddy of hero Ralph Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason.
Carney became an icon for the character's turned-up porkpie hat and unbuttoned vest over a white T-shirt, as well as the catchphrase "Hey, Ralphie boy."
Impressionist
Carney won three Emmys for the role. Co-star Gleason said: "The first time I saw the guy act, I knew I would have to work twice as hard for my laughs. He was funny as hell."
Born in New York in 1918, his showbusiness career began in 1937 when as an 18-year-old impressionist he started touring with a dance band. He later said his battles with alcohol started then.
He was drafted into the army in World War II and took part in the 1944 D-Day landings. He was wounded in the leg by shrapnel, an injury that left him with a limp for the rest of his life.
Carney's alcoholism lead to him having to drop out of the Broadway production of the play The Odd Couple in the 1960s. He spent nearly six months in a sanitorium.
His finest moment was winning the Oscar for Harry and Tonto, the story of a 72-year-old widower who travels from New York to Chicago with his pet cat.
The actor, who had been ill for some time, was married three times, twice to his childhood sweetheart Jean Myers.