Talking with Trixie Norton: Joyce Randolph Remembers "The Honeymooners"

She played one of America's all-time favorite neighbors. As "Trixie Norton" on The Honeymooners, Joyce Randolph was that pal that you wished lived upstairs. She was friend to Audrey Meadows' "Alice Kramden," other half to Art Carney's "Ed Norton," and along with Jackie Gleason, made up one of the funniest foursomes in television history. In her Archive of American Television interview from 1999, Randolph speaks in detail about her time as "Trixie," sharing what it was like to do the show with very little rehearsal, since Jackie Gleason preferred it that way, and recalling her memories of the "Classic 39" episodes.

She shares how she won the role:

Describes her co-star Audrey Meadows:

And gushes about the talents of her on-screen husband, Art Carney:

Learn more about Randolph's time on The Honeymooners, and about her early stage and television work by watching her full Archive interview.

About this interview:

In her two hour Archive Interview, Joyce Randolph discusses her early years as an actress on the stage and speaks of her first appearance on television in 1946 -- on experimental station WRGB in Scenectady, NY.  She outlines her roles in early television on the Dumont network, on shows Martin Kane, Private Eye; The Plainclothesman; and The Famous Jury Trials. She describes her first appearance on The Cavalcade of Stars in a dramatic role, before landing the part of “Trixie Norton” in the show’s “Honeymooners” sketches, opposite Art Carney’s “Ed Norton.” Randolph then details her appearances in the “Classic 39” episodes of The Honeymooners, when the sketches were launched as a 30-minute sitcom series for the 1955-56 season, and shares what it was like to work with Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows. She chronicles her continued appearances as “Trixie” on The Jackie Gleason Show (which ran through 1959) and her return to the role for an episode of the 1991 television series, Hi Honey, I’m Home. Michael Rosen conducted the interview on October 27, 1999 in New York, NY.