Art Carney Net Worth

What Was Art Carney's Net Worth and Salary?

Art Carney was an American actor who had a net worth of $16 million at the time of his death.

Art Carney was best known for playing sewer worker Ed Norton, the cheerful best friend and upstairs neighbor of Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden, on "The Honeymooners." His eccentric mannerisms, distinctive laugh, battered fedora, and impeccable comic timing made Norton one of the most beloved supporting characters in television history.

Carney won multiple Emmy Awards for his work with Gleason, but his career extended far beyond "The Honeymooners." He originated the role of Felix Unger in the Broadway production of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" and demonstrated his dramatic abilities in numerous live television plays. In 1975, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as an elderly widower traveling across the country with his cat in "Harry and Tonto."

Carney's other notable films included "The Late Show," "Going in Style," "The Muppets Take Manhattan," and "Last Action Hero." Although he was known for playing outgoing and eccentric characters, Carney described himself as a shy, private person who preferred spending time at home to participating in Hollywood social life.

Early Life

Arthur William Matthew Carney was born on November 4, 1918, in Mount Vernon, New York. He was the youngest of six sons born to Edward Michael Carney and Helen Farrell Carney.

Carney began performing impersonations as a child and won talent contests in elementary school and at A.B. Davis High School. After graduating in 1936, he did not attend college or receive formal acting training.

Instead, Carney joined bandleader Horace Heidt's orchestra, traveling with the group for more than three years. He performed novelty songs and impressions and worked as an announcer on Heidt's radio program "Pot O' Gold." When the show was adapted into a 1941 movie, Carney received a small role.

Military Service and Radio Career

Carney's emerging entertainment career was interrupted by World War II. He served as an infantryman and was sent to France, where he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel. He spent approximately nine months in a hospital and walked with a limp for the remainder of his life.

After returning home, Carney found steady employment in radio. His ability to perform dialects and imitate famous voices made him particularly valuable. At one point, CBS hired him because of his convincing impression of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Carney worked on programs including "Man Behind the Gun," which received a Peabody Award, and appeared on television with comedian Morey Amsterdam in 1949. By 1951, he was a regular performer on "Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt."

The Honeymooners

Carney began working with Jackie Gleason on the DuMont Network variety series "Cavalcade of Stars." He initially played several characters in Gleason's comedy sketches, including Clem Finch and the aristocratic Sedgwick Van Gleason.

His defining role became Ed Norton, the good-natured sewer worker who lived upstairs from Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, played by Gleason. Audrey Meadows played Ralph's sharp-witted wife, Alice, while Joyce Randolph portrayed Norton's wife, Trixie. Pert Kelton had originated the role of Alice in the earliest sketches before Meadows joined the cast.

Norton described himself as an "underground sanitation expert" and frequently wandered into the Kramdens' apartment, raided their refrigerator, or accidentally disrupted one of Ralph's schemes. While Ralph was loud, impatient, and forever pursuing a questionable get-rich-quick plan, Norton was cheerful, eccentric, and almost impossible to offend. Alice usually saw through Ralph's schemes immediately, while Trixie often joined her in providing the voice of reason.

When Gleason moved to CBS, Carney followed him. The "Honeymooners" sketches became so popular that they were developed into a weekly sitcom. Only 39 episodes of the standalone series were produced, but Ralph, Alice, Ed, and Trixie continued appearing in Gleason's variety programs and television specials.

Carney's performance balanced broad physical comedy with an underlying sweetness. Although Norton routinely irritated Ralph, the friendship between the two men was central to the show's appeal. The chemistry among Gleason, Carney, Meadows, and Randolph helped turn "The Honeymooners" into one of the most enduring comedies in television history. Carney won several Emmy Awards for his work with Gleason and became nearly as closely associated with the series as its star.

Television and Broadway

Carney's contract with Gleason permitted him to accept dramatic roles elsewhere. During the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in television anthology programs including "Studio One," "Kraft Television Theatre," and "Omnibus."

His acclaimed television performances included portraying Dublin mayor Robert Briscoe in "The Fabulous Irishman" and serving as the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town." In "Call Me Back," Carney delivered a one-man performance as a divorced alcoholic.

Carney also built a successful Broadway career. He starred opposite Siobhan McKenna in "The Rope Dancers" and appeared in productions including "Take Her, She's Mine" and "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

In 1965, he originated the role of the obsessively neat Felix Unger opposite Walter Matthau's slovenly Oscar Madison in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple." The play became a Broadway hit and was later adapted into a film and a long-running television series.

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Harry and Tonto

Carney initially resisted accepting the lead role in the 1974 film "Harry and Tonto." He was only 55 and questioned whether he could convincingly portray Harry Coombes, a 72-year-old widower evicted from his New York City apartment.

Director Paul Mazursky persuaded him to take the role. Carney whitened his hair, grew a mustache, used little additional makeup, and stopped attempting to conceal the limp caused by his wartime injury.

His understated performance earned widespread praise. Carney won the Academy Award for Best Actor, prevailing over a field that included Al Pacino in "The Godfather Part II," Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown," Dustin Hoffman in "Lenny," and Albert Finney in "Murder on the Orient Express."

The victory transformed Carney from a performer primarily associated with television comedy into an Academy Award-winning dramatic actor.

Later Career

Carney subsequently starred as an aging private detective in "The Late Show" and appeared with George Burns and Lee Strasberg in the 1979 comedy "Going in Style."

His later films included "The Muppets Take Manhattan," "Firestarter," "The Last Action Hero," and the television movie "The Night They Saved Christmas." He also made guest appearances on programs including "Star Trek," "The Defenders," and "All in the Family."

Carney gradually retired from acting during the 1990s. His final theatrical film was "Last Action Hero," in which he appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Personal Life and Death

Carney married Jean Myers in 1940. They had three children, Eileen, Brian, and Paul. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1965, and Carney married Barbara Isaac the following year. After his second marriage ended, he reunited with Jean, and they remarried in 1980.

Carney struggled for years with addictions to alcohol, amphetamines, and barbiturates. The collapse of his first marriage contributed to a serious emotional breakdown while he was appearing in "The Odd Couple." He eventually achieved sobriety around the time he made "Harry and Tonto."

Art Carney died at a convalescent home in Chester, Connecticut, on November 9, 2003. He was 85 years old.

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