Actress Joyce Randolph, who starred as Trixie Norton in the 1955 sitcom “The Honeymooners,” has died at the age of 99.
Ms. Randolph reportedly passed away “peacefully in her sleep” at her New York City home due to the effects of old age, according to her son Randy Charles, who noted she’d been in home hospice for several months.
Ms. Randolph was the last living member of the television show, preceded in death by co-stars Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, and Audrey Meadows.
“The Honeymooners,” while short-lived (only airing from 1955 to 1956), left a lasting impression in American television history. Created by and starring Mr. Gleason—one of the biggest stars of the Golden Age of Television—the show was based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Mr. Gleason’s variety show.
The series followed the lives of two New York City blue-collar couples, bus driver Ralph Kramden and his wife Alice (played by Mr. Gleason and Ms. Meadows), and Ralph’s best friend Ed Norton and his wife Trixie (played by Mr. Carney and Ms. Randolph) as they get immersed in various day-to-day antics. Usually, episodes featured Mr. Gleason’s character in a kerfuffle of sorts, causing him to display his curmudgeonly attitude yet in a comedic way.
The show’s characters also had a soft side, even the judgmental Ralph Kramden. “The Honeymooners” has been consistently considered by experts as one of the top TV comedies ever made.
Initially a ratings success as the No. 2. show in the U.S., facing competition from “The Perry Como Show” at the time, the series eventually dropped to No. 19. Production ended after only 39 episodes.
“We just played ourselves,” Ms. Randolph once told The New York Times in 2012 regarding the show and its roles. “Nobody told us to characterize in any way. It was learn those lines and go on.”
Her Big Break
Ms. Randolph was born on Oct. 21, 1924, and moved from her native Detroit to New York to pursue her acting career, according to Reuters. The actress got her big break when Mr. Gleason noticed her doing a commercial for Cloret chewing gum on the old DuMont television network, the home of his “Cavalcade of Stars” variety show.“Trixie was married to a sewer worker and I guess she considered herself a little better than the character of Ed Norton,” Ms. Randolph said in a 1999 interview with the Archive of American Television. “But she was just a housewife. She and Alice didn’t have jobs. They stayed home all the time, which was kind of amazing. But the husband didn’t want them to work.”
“She joked that often she’d play the part of the young woman who ended up as the corpse in the murder mystery. So they used to call her the “most murdered girl” on television, he told the outlet.
After “The Honeymooners,” Ms. Randoph did some commercial and stage work. She did not appear in the 1960s revival of the show, which had Jane Kean playing the part of Trixie.
Show Business Pays Tribute
Since news of her death, many have paid tribute to the actress over social media.“We celebrate the life and legacy of Joyce Randolph, who left us at age 99. She was the last survivor of ‘The Honeymooners,’ which dominated Saturday night viewing habits of millions in the age of live TV. #SagAftraMember since 1947
“In addition to being a wonderful actress, she was a wonderful mom and loving wife,” Charles said of his late mother as reported by Fox News Digital.
Ms. Randolph married Richard Lincoln Charles the day after “The Honeymooners” premiered in 1955. They were married until his death in 1997.
A private remembrance service will be held for Ms. Randolph at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her honor to be made to the Entertainment Community Fund, formerly The Actor’s Fund, for which Ms. Randolph’s late husband was a member of the charity’s board.
