Joyce Randolph

34
Joyce Randolph bigraphy, stories - Actress

Joyce Randolph : biography

October 21, 1924 –

Joyce Randolph (born October 21, 1924) is an American actress, best known for playing Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners.

Biography

Early life and career

Randolph was born as Joyce Sirola in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to New York City in 1943 to pursue an acting career. She took roles on Broadway and landed various television roles.

In 1951, she was seen in a Clorets commercial by Jackie Gleason and was asked to appear in a skit on Cavalcade of Stars, 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”, Randolph stated. “I was a nobody in Detroit. Why Garbo? Well, she was Scandinavian — and so was I.”

The Honeymooners

Randolph is the last surviving member of the famous Honeymooners quartet, which included Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, Art Carney as Ed Norton, Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden (after replacing a blacklisted Pert Kelton), and Randolph as Trixie Norton.

Randolph was not the very first "Trixie Norton"; Elaine Stritch appeared as a burlesque "Trixie" circa 1951 in Cavalcade of Stars, where the premise for The Honeymooners first took root. Stritch only played the role once and Randolph took over.

Randolph had met her future Honeymooners co-star Meadows long before they did the television series, working together in a summer stock production of No, No, Nanette.

Personal life

Randolph married Richard Lincoln Charles, a wealthy marketing executive, in a Baptist church on Long Island, New York, on October 2, 1955. Charles died in 1997 at age 74. Their son, Randolph Richard Charles (born 1960), is a marketing executive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Randolph is presently on the Board of the USO.

She is the great-aunt of Major League Baseball pitcher Tim Redding.