Joyce Randolph ( Sirola; October 21, 1924) is an American actress, best known for playing

Trixie Norton ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...

on the television sitcom ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

''.

Early life and career

Randolph was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

on October 21, 1924. As a teenager, she acted with the Wayne University Workshop. After she finished high school, she began working in retail sales for a

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...

store in Detroit. When a touring company of ''Stage Door'' played in Detroit, she auditioned, got a part, and performed for the rest of the tour. She moved to New York City in 1943 to pursue an acting career. She took roles on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and landed various television roles. In 1951, she was seen in a

Clorets Clorets is a line of chewing gum and mints made by Cadbury Adams. It was introduced in 1951. Clorets gum and candy contain Actizol, a proprietary ingredient that contains chlorophyll, which purportedly acts as an active ingredient to eliminate m ...

commercial by

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

and was asked to appear in a skit on ''

Cavalcade of Stars ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMo ...

'', Gleason's variety show on the DuMont Television Network. Soon after, she was cast as Trixie in ''The Honeymooners''. Several New York columnists referred to her as the "Garbo of Detroit". "That's still a mystery ... I was a nobody in Detroit. Why Garbo? Well, she was Scandinavian — and so was I", responded Randolph.

''The Honeymooners''

Randolph is the last surviving cast member of

which included

Ralph Kramden ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

as Ed Norton,

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows ( Cotter, February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. She was the younger sister of ...

Alice Kramden ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...

, and Randolph as Thelma "Trixie" Norton. Randolph also portrayed Trixie in skits on ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. In a September 2015 interview, Randolph said that she did not portray Trixie Norton in ''Honeymooners'' revivals due to personal and geographic reasons; in addition, Randolph stated that Gleason considered her to be "the quintessential Trixie." As claimed by Randolph, asking Gleason to give her more lines was out of the question. “You don’t even talk to Jackie, let alone ask for anything,” Randolph said. "He didn’t talk much and he didn’t like to rehearse much.” Joyce talked about a hectic workload for filming the show, with getting all 39 episodes shot within a calendar year. Though she stated there was not much conversation between cast members, everyone showed up on Saturdays to film the show in front of a live studio audience.

Other career

On Broadway, Randolph appeared in ''Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath'' (1950). After she became identified with the Norton character, she seldom found other parts. "For years after that role," Randolph said, "directors would say: 'No, we can't use her. She's too well known as Trixie." She performed in summer stock musicals, made commercials, and had a few guest appearances on TV shows, including her reprisal of Trixie Norton (along with

reprising her role as Alice Kramden) in the 1991 episode "Fur Flies" in '' Hi Honey, I'm Home!''.

Personal life

Randolph married Richard Lincoln Charles, a wealthy marketing executive, on October 2, 1955, the day after ''

'' premiered. Richard Charles died in 1997 at age 74. Their son, Randolph Richard Charles (born 1960), is a marketing executive. She is the great-aunt of former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

Tim Redding Timothy James Redding (born February 12, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and more recently the pitching coach for the Hagerstown Suns. He pitched for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, New York ...

References

External links

Joyce Randolph, The Last-Surviving 'Honeymooner'
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Randolph, Joyce 1924 births Living people Actresses from Detroit American stage actresses American television actresses American people of Finnish descent 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Members of The Lambs Club