by Sandi Durell . . . .
Joyce Randolph, veteran stage and television actor whose role as the savvy Trixie Norton on “The Honeymooners” provided the perfect foil to her dimwitted TV husband, the sewer worker Ed Norton (played by Art Carney), has died. She was 99.
Randolph died of natural causes on January 13 at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, according to her son .
She was the last surviving main character of the beloved comedy from television’s golden age of the 1950s.
“The Honeymooners” was an affectionate look at Brooklyn tenement life, based in part on star Jackie Gleason’s childhood. Gleason played the blustering bus driver Ralph Kramden. Audrey Meadows was his wisecracking, strong-willed wife Alice, and Art Carney the cheerful sewer worker Ed Norton. Alice and Trixie often found themselves commiserating over their husbands’ various follies and mishaps, whether unknowingly marketing dogfood as a popular snack or trying in vain to resist a rent hike, or freezing in the winter as their heat is shut off.
Originating in 1950 as a recurring skit on Gleason’s variety show, “Cavalcade of Stars,” “The Honeymooners” still ranks among the all-time favorites of television comedy. The show grew in popularity after Gleason switched networks with “The Jackie Gleason Show.” Later, for one season in 1955-56, it became a full-fledged series.
Joyce was a member of The Lambs, the oldest theatrical club in the country receiving the Shepherd’s Award alongside Stephen Schwartz in 2019. I was honored to be present, as a Lamb, at that event.
“The Lambs joins with all fans of Joyce Randolph to mourn her passing,” said Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, Shepherd of The Lambs. We will be holding a celebration of life for Joyce in the spring at our clubhouse.”
Featured Photo by Magda Katz
