Trivia: Though Art Carney would grow up to become a shy, retiring, self-effacing man, he was quite the class clown in school. HIs grades never rising above mediocre, Carney excelled in mimicry, performing astonishingly accurate imitations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fred Allen, Ned Sparks, and other 1930s luminaries. This skill enabled him to win a number of New York-based amateur contests, and in 1938 landed him a spot as musician/comedian with the Horace Heidt orchestra. Extensive radio work followed, notably Heidt's weekly quiz show Pot of Gold, which when made into a film in 1941 featured Carney in an uncredited role. While serving in WWII, Carney endured a serious leg wound which left him with a permanent limp. Fortunately this infliction did not impede his postwar radio work; he acted on such dramatic programs as Gangbusters and Dimension X, and appeared as a comedy foil for such major stars as Bert Lahr and Henry Morgan. He moved into television in 1948, playing a comic waiter on The Morey Amsterdam Show. Full-fledged stardom came his way in 1951 when he was hired as supporting player for a roly-poly comedian named Jackie Gleason on the Dumont TV Network's Cavalcade of Stars. Though they were never any more than fast friends off-stage, Gleason and Carney immediately developed a warm on-camera rapport that was to remain intact until Gleason's death in 1987. When Gleason moved from Dumont to CBS in 1952, Carney joined him, playing a remarkable array of sharply defined characters on The Jackie Gleason Show, the most famous of which was goofy, gesticulating sewer worker Ed Norton in the series' classic Honeymooners sketches. Ultimately, Carney was to win six Emmy awards, not only for his work on the Gleason show but also for his dramatic performances in such projects as the 1984 TV movie Terrible Joe Moran. He made a successful transition to the Broadway stage in 1959's The Rope Dancers, subsequently appearing in such stage hits as Take Her She's Mine, The Odd Couple (originating the role of Felix Unger), and Lovers. He returned to films in 1965, and nine years later won an Academy Award for his portrayal of an irascible senior citizen in Harry and Tonto. Even at the height of his popularity and activity, Carney suffered from profound emotional problems; a quiet, introspective sort not given to venting anger or displeasure, he assuaged his rage and insecurities with liquor. His alcoholic intake eventually impaired his ability to perform, forcing him to periodically dry out and take stock in himself in various sanitariums and clinics. Though Art Carney was eventually able to overcome his difficulties, he became more reclusive and less active as the years rolled on. The 1980s proved Carney's final active decade in front of the camera, and following roles in St. Helens, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and Firestarted (not to mention numerous small-screen appearances) Carney called it quits following an appearance in the 1993 action flop The Last Action Hero. His subsequent retirement proving a restful departure from the high energy entertainment industry, the beloved Honeymooners star died of natural causes in November of 2003.

Trivia: Zamah Cunningham enjoyed a 50-year career on the stage, screen, and television, including movies directed by D.W. Griffith and such stage productions as On the Town and Watch on the Rhine -- but modern audiences will remember her almost exclusively for her occasional appearances on The Honeymooners in the role of Mrs. Manicotti, the Kramdens' corpulent neighbor. Cunningham was born in 1892 and made her professional debut in 1909 at the age of 16, when she joined a road company in a production of Hitchy Koo. She made the jump to feature films in the silent era, working in some of Griffith's productions, including America. Cunningham was an attractive actress in her teens and twenties, svelte and appealing by the standards of the day, but as she grew older and her girth increased, she gradually evolved into a character actress, similar in type to Sara Allgood or, in more recent years, Rebecca Schull, capable of comic relief or implied menace. Later, she transcended even those boundaries as her weight and size ballooned. Cunningham's Broadway work included the original production of On the Town (as Maude P. Dilly) and the Broadway production and national tour of Watch on the Rhine with Paul Lukas. She was also a regular on the television series Matinee Theatre and made appearances on Studio One, Kraft TelevisionTheatre, and other anthology series, in addition to the movies Dream Girl (1948), Key to the City (1950), Here Come the Girls (1953), and Baby the Rain Must Fall (1965). She was most familiar to audiences, however, for her years on Cavalcade of Stars and The Jackie Gleason Show, including a season of The Honeymooners (1955-1956). On the Gleason variety shows, Cunningham was seen in various roles ,while on the free-standing Honeymooners series she played Mrs. Manicotti exclusively. Her later Broadway credits included a role in the thriller Shadow of a Gunman in 1958, and she worked in television and movies into her seventies. Cunningham died in 1967 at the age of 74.

Trivia: Audrey Meadows will be forever immortalized as Alice Kramden ("Alice, you're the greatest!"), wife of bus-driver Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners (irregularly from 1951-1971). Despite its later popularity, The Honeymooners actually began as a series of sketches, just one part of The Jackie Gleason Show (1952-1970). The show had only one real season of 39 shows, in 1955, and it wasn't a success. Later, the original sketches were re-edited into episodes in the '80s, which is when the show finally became a success. Born in China, the red-haired actress is the older sister of Steve Allen's wife Jayne Meadows. She also appeared on Bob and Ray (1951-53), Club Embassy (1952-53), Too Close for Comfort (1980-83), and several game shows. She won an Emmy Award for The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955. Her film appearances include Lady in the Lake (1946). Meadow's feature film credits include character roles in That Touch of Mink (1962) and Rosie! (1967). In 1995, Meadows was diagnosed with cancer, but she told no one, not even her sister, until she was admitted to the hospital on January 24, 1996. Meadows passed away on February 3, 1996.

Trivia: First professional role was in a touring company of the play Stage Door. Made her Broadway debut in 1944's A Goose for the Gander, opposite Gloria Swanson. Was discovered by Jackie Gleason in a 1951 Clorets commercial. Although best-known for it, she didn't originate the role of Trixie Norton—Elaine Stritch played the role in the 1951 Cavalcade of Stars episode that introduced The Honeymooners. Also appeared on The Colgate Comedy Hour, Buck Rogers and The Jack Benny Program during the 1950s. Was dubbed "The Garbo of Detroit" in the 1950s. Appeared as Trixie Norton in an episode Honey, I'm Home, a 1991-92 spoof of '50s TV. Was named USO Woman of the Year in 1993.