A Television Pioneer

Actor Art Carney is seen in character as Ed Norton from the classic TV show "The Honeymooners," in this August 1955 file photo. Carney, who played Jackie Gleason's sewer worker pal Ed Norton in "The Honeymooners," went on to win the 1974 Oscar for best actor in "Harry and Tonto." He died in Connecticut at age 85 on Nov. 9, 2003.

A scene from the classic television show "The Honeymooners" is shown in this undated photo. Pictured are, from left: Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden; Art Carney as Ed Norton; Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden; and Joyce Randolph as Trixie Norton. Carney played Gleason's sewer worker pal Ed Norton in the TV classic. He also was a stage actor and starred in "The Odd Couple" on Broadway.

Carney won praise from his TV co-stars including comedian Jackie Gleason, seen clowning for photographers in Miami Beach, Fla., in this Jan. 21, 1966, photo. "The first time I saw the guy act," Gleason once said of Carney, "I knew I would have to work twice as hard for my laughs. He was funny as hell."

The cast of "The Honeymooners" - from left: Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Joyce Randolph - appear in character as, respectively, Ralph and Alice Kramden and Ed and Trixie Norton, in this 1955 file photo. Carney, a rubber-faced comedy actor, was best known as Gleason's bowling buddy and upstairs neighbor Ed Norton in the TV classic.

Audrey Meadows, seen posing backstage at the 1987 Emmy Awards, also had kind words for her TV co-star. "Art was, and is one of the most endearing men I have ever met," Meadows, who died in 1996, wrote in her 1994 memoir "Love, Alice." She called him a "witty and delightful companion who went out of his way to help each new actor find his niche in the often bewildering world of `The Jackie Gleason Show.'"

Art Carney holds the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in "Harry and Tonto," backstage at the Academy Awatds ceremony in Los Angeles on April 9, 1975. Carney, who battled a drinking problem that interrupted his career, made a successful comeback with this film.

Art Carney, left, and director Francis Ford Coppola pose with their Oscar statuettes at the Academy Awards presentation in Los Angeles, April 8, 1975. Carney was named Best Actor for his role in "Harry and Tonto." Coppola won Oscars in three categories for "The Godfather Part II."

Johnny Grant, honorary mayor of Hollywood, places flowers at the star for Oscar-winning actor Art Carney on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Nov. 11, 2003, in Los Angeles. Carney, best known for his role of Ed Norton on "The Honeymooners," died Nov. 9, 2003, in Chester, Conn. He was 85.

VIDEO: Art Carney's Career: Jerry Bowen reports.