Tuesday, November 11, 2003

Art Carney is dead at 85

Into every person's life a little rain must fall--fresh off my joy that was my recent eBay purchase, a friend e-mails me to let me know that Art Carney has passed away. What a sad, sad thing to have to hear.

What galls me is in his obituary, they give his radio career incredibly short shrift. This is, of course, something OTR fans have come to expect, but to dismiss him as a "second banana on comedy shows" is pretty lame. Actor Richard Widmark once remarked that he was completely unaware of Carney's comedic talents when both actors worked on Gangbusters week after week.

"The first time I saw the guy act," Jackie Gleason once said, "I knew I would have to work twice as hard for my laughs. He was funny as hell." To me, that quote speaks volumes about a great actor like Carney. R.I.P, Art.

No comments:

Post a Comment