pert kelton played the first alice on the honeymooners.
pert kelton played the first alice on the honeymooners.
who played the first alice on the honeymooners?
pert kelton
in january 1966, meadows again returned as alice for a musical special, "the honeymooners: the adoption", a re-enactment of a 1955 sketch of the same name. when "the jackie gleason show", by then based in gleason's home town, miami beach, florida, returned in 1966, the "honeymooners" sketches, in color for the first time, incredibly returned as a series of elaborate musicals that, in effect, were the equivalent of a new broadway musical each time. the sketches, which covered 10 of the first season's thirty-two shows, followed a story arc that had the kramdens and nortons traveling across europe after ralph won a contest (an updated version of a 1957 story arc, with musical numbers added). "the color honeymooners," as it has since become known, featured sheila macrae and jane kean in, respectively, the roles of alice and trixie, because audrey meadows and joyce randolph declined to relocate to miami. gleason raised no objections to that recasting, but was adamant that the ed norton role never be played by anyone other than art carney. one notable 1967 segment featured the return of pert kelton (in one of her last performances before her death in 1968 of heart disease at the age of 61), but this time she played alice's mother, mrs. gibson.
the honeymooners
"the honeymooners" debuted as a half-hour series on 1955 and was originally aired on the dumont network's "cavalcade of stars" and subsequently on the cbs network's "the jackie gleason show", which was filmed in front of a live audience. although initially a ratings success—becoming the #2 show in the united states during its first season—it faced stiff competition from "the perry como show", and eventually dropped to #19, ending its production after only 39 episodes (now referred to as the "classic 39"). the final episode of "the honeymooners" aired on september 22, 1956. creator/producer jackie gleason revived "the honeymooners" sporadically until 1978. "the honeymooners" was one of the first u.s. television shows to portray working-class married couples in a gritty, non-idyllic manner (the show is set mostly in the kramdens' kitchen, in a neglected brooklyn apartment building). steven sheehan explains the popularity of "the honeymooners" as the embodiment of working-class masculinity in the character of ralph kramden, and postwar ideals in american society regarding work, housing, consumerism, and consumer satisfaction. the series demonstrated visually the burdens of material obligations and participation in consumer culture, as well as the common use of threats of domestic violence in working class households. art carney won five emmy awards for his portrayal of ed norton — two for the original "jackie gleason show", one for "the honeymooners", and two for the final version of "the jackie gleason show". he was nominated for another two (1957, 1966) but lost. gleason and audrey meadows were both nominated in 1956 for their work on "the honeymooners". meadows was also nominated for emmys for her portrayal of alice kramden in 1954 and 1957. in 1997, the episodes "the $99,000 answer" and "tv or not tv" were respectively ranked #6 and #26 on "tv guide's 100 greatest episodes of all time" and in 1999, "tv guide" published a list titled "tv's 100 greatest characters ever!" ed norton was #20, and ralph kramden was #2. in 2002, "the honeymooners" was listed at #3 on tv guide's 50 greatest tv shows of all time and #13 on their list of the "60 greatest shows of all time" in 2013.
sitcom