Art Carney is an American actor who first appeared on radio and then made a good career in film and TV. He is an Academy Award winner for 1974. He received this award for his starring role in Harry and Tonto. At the same time, his rivals in the nomination were such stars as Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.
Early years and participation in the war
Art Carney's full name is Arthur William Matthew Carney. He was born on November 4, 1918 in Mount Vernon, New York, the youngest of six sons to Helen and Edward Michael Carney. His parents were Roman Catholic and of Irish descent.
Art's career began in the thirties. At first, he was just a performer of humorous songs and performed in this capacity on the radio with the Horace Hight Orchestra. In particular, he could be heard on a radio program called The Pot of Gold. And back in 1941, in the United States, a film related to this program with the same name - "A Pot of Gold", was released. Carney also appeared in it.
Art was then drafted into the American army as an infantryman and machine gunner. In 1944, he even took part in the Normandy operation. During one of the battles, he was wounded in the leg by a shell fragment. Because of this, Carney limped for the rest of his life. On top of that, as a result of the injury, his right leg became slightly shorter than his left.
Carney's career in the forties and fifties
After the war, in the second half of the 1940s, Carney gained some fame as a performer of character roles in various radio shows. For example, in 1946 and 1947 he participated in The Henry Morgan Show. Also, his voice could be heard in "Gang Busters" - a radio program dedicated to real-life crime stories from American police practice. In addition, from time to time Carney had to portray major political figures. In particular, he portrayed Roosevelt in the March of Time radio program.
In the early fifties, Carney appeared on TV - in the comedy "The Jackie Gleason Show." He was invited to participate in some of the sketches of this show. Once, in one of the sketches, Art played Ed Norton, a funny New York sewer worker. And this image was greatly loved by viewers and critics.
Subsequently, he appeared as Norton in another Jackie Gleason project - the TV series The Newlyweds. Essentially, The Newlyweds is a classic TV sitcom. It chronicled the lives of New York City bus driver Ralph Cramden (played by Gleason himself) and his wife, Alice. And Ed Norton, according to the plot, was Ralph's best friend. The series ran from the fall of 1955 to the fall of 1956. A total of 39 episodes were filmed. And for Carney, it was a real breakthrough: for his portrayal of Ed Norton in this and other projects, he received several Emmy awards.
Further career
In 1960, Carney starred in the Christmas episode of the Twilight Zone, "A Night of Resignation," playing a drinking, unemployed man who eventually becomes a real Santa Claus. Also in the sixties, Carney appeared in the series "The Virgin", "Mr. Broadway" and "Batman" (here he played the Archer - a negative character who is a kind of parody of Robin Hood).
One of the best roles in the biography of Art Carney - the role in the film by Paul Mazursky "Harry and Tonto" The genre of this picture is defined as a dramatic road movie. In the center of the plot is the lonely old man Harry (he is just played by Carney), who found himself on the street due to the fact that his house is intended for demolition. He has neither the strength nor the money to fight for survival further. And of the friends, only Tonto the cat remained. With this faithful friend Harry goes on a trip to America …
At the 47th Academy Awards, held on April 8, 1975, Art Carney received the statuette from the hands of actress Glenda Jackson. In addition, for the role of old man Harry, the actor Carney was also noted for the "Golden Globe".
In 1978, Carney appeared in the television movie Star Wars: Celebration Special. This project is notable for the fact that it involved the same actors who starred in the legendary film masterpiece Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope . But at the same time, the TV movie has very low ratings from viewers. And he was shown on American TV only once (November 17, 1978). Art Carney played here the merchant Sauna Dunn, a member of the Rebel Alliance who helps Chewbacca escape the Imperial stormtroopers.
In 1979, Art Carney starred in Martin Brest's film Nice to Leave. This American film tells the story of three retirees - Joe, El and Willie. In the script, they are best friends who are not entirely happy with the way their life has gone. And so they decide on a reckless act - a robbery … Art Carney here got the role of Al - one of the retirees.
In the eighties, the actor, as before, appeared on the big screens from time to time. His acting can be appreciated in such films of this period as "Disobedience" (1980), "Better late than never" (1983), "Giving Fire" (1984), "Break the Mask" (1984), etc.
In 1993, Carney starred in the action comedy film The Last Movie Hero. Here he played the role of Frankie, Jack Slater's second cousin (that is, the main character played by Schwarzenegger). And, in essence, this was Carney's last film work.
For the next ten years, Art Carney lived quietly in his home in Westbrook, Connecticut. A wonderful actor died there - it happened on November 9, 2003.
Personal life
In 1940, Art Carney married Jean Myers. This marriage lasted as much as 25 years - until 1965. During this time, Jean and Carney became the parents of three children: Eileen was born in 1942, Brian was born in 1946, and Paul was born in 1952.
It is known that by the end of this marriage, Carney suffered from severe alcohol addiction. To quit drinking, he attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and also took various medications. Ultimately, during the filming of the already mentioned film "Harry and Tonto", he managed to "quit" drinking forever.
By the way, during this period he was already married again - from December 1966 to 1977 his wife was a woman named Barbara Isaac.
Interestingly, after the divorce from Barbara, Art Carney again became friends with Jean Myers. In 1980, they officially married for the second time and lived together until his death.
