Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners, died in Manhattan January 13. She was 99.
Created by Jackie Gleason, The Honeymooners began as a skit on Cavalcade of Stars, a variety show on the DuMont network, in 1951, then was a segment on The Jackie Gleason Show. The series was on CBS in 1955 and 1956. Thirty-nine episodes were produced.
In 1957, The Honeymooners returned to The Jackie Gleason Show.
Gleason played Ralph Kramden, a tightly wound bus driver in Brooklyn with an array of get-rich-quick ploys. Audrey Meadows portrayed his wife Alice and Art Carney played Trixie’s husband Ed, Ralph’s best friend who lives in the same Brooklyn building. Gleason died in 1987, Meadows died in 1996 and Carney died in 2003.
Born Joyce Sirola in Detroit in 1924, Randolph moved to New York in 1943 to act. She went on the road with Stage Door, Abie’s Irish Rose and Good Night, Ladies, among other productions, and got work in television too.
Gleason saw Randolph in a gum commercial, The New York Times reported, and brought her on board at Cavalcade of Stars.
Elaine Stritch played Trixie for one episode of The Honeymooners, and Randolph then took on the part.
Randolph’s work following The Honeymooners included theater, commercials and guest appearances on TV. But the ‘50s sitcom was a highlight in her career.
