9781557835659
Art Carney A Biography share button
Michael Seth Starr
Format Paperback
Dimensions 6.00 (w) x 9.00 (h) x 0.59 (d)
Pages 238
Publisher Applause Theatre Book Publishers,U.S.
Publication Date 2002/04/01
ISBN 9781557835659
Book ISBN 10 1557835659
About Book

(Applause Books). "A clear and well-written portrait of a superb performer and a wonderful human being, with emphasis on the word 'human.'" - The New York Times Book Review He was one of the most beloved stars of television's golden age. Together with his legendary partner Jackie Gleason, Art Carney helped create some of the most dazzling and unforgettable comedy ever presented on the small screen. Carney was an agile, rubber-limbed dancer and comedian whose sweetness and unassuming nature concealed the passion and power of a brilliant, often underappreciated, actor. The partnership formed by Carney and Gleason, as Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden and his dim-witted pal, sewer worker Norton, remains to this day the most powerful and memoriable comedic union ever conceived for television. How this song-and-dance man and show business recluse began his career, as well as the detours, lucky breaks, triumphs and heartbreaks Carney encountered along the way, is the subject of this fascinating, in-depth biography by author and New York Post editor Michael Seth Starr. ART CARNEY tells the story of a complex man and an enduring television legend who gave the world the most extraordinary gift of all: the gift of laughter.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The life of TV, stage and film actor Art Carney (b. 1918) is treated compassionately in this genial, briskly paced bio by Starr (Peter Sellers, 1991), a deputy TV editor of the New York Post. The youngest son of an Irish family in Mount Vernon, New York, Carney in the 1940s parlayed a talent for clowning and doing celebrity impersonations into a radio career. Severely wounded during WWII (he walks with a limp to this day), Carney returned to work in TV to become "a seminal figure in popularizing the new medium," playing sewer worker Ed Norton to Jackie Gleason's bus-driving Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners. Starr's account of Carney and Gleason's working relationship is a main thread of the book, which depicts two enormously talented men who never quite made friends off camera, but who created magic together on screen. Carney comes across as one of the nicest men in show business; none of his many co-workers interviewed by Starrincluding Lily Tomlin, Neil Simon and director Robert Bentonhas an unkind word for him. Starr writes of Carney's insecurity as an artist and of his lifelong battle with alcohol. The author's affection for his subject is manifest throughout, and he seems to take pleasure in describing Carney's comeback (one of several) as an actor in such films as Harry and Tonto (for which he won the 1974 Best Actor Oscar) and The Late Show. If the book has a weakness, it is in Starr's hinting at Carney's "demons" without ever quite telling us what they are. But overall this is a warm portrait of a complicated man who is also a gifted actor. The book includes a list of Carney's film, TV and theater performances. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)

Booknews

A editor pays homage to a comedian often typecast as a "second banana" in such roles as Ed Norton in the popular TV show . Starr includes a resum<'e> of Carney's long career in television, film (notably, ), and theater (e.g. ). This is a reprint of a 1998 book. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)