Joyce Randolph, who portrayed Trixie Norton on the iconic sitcom “The Honeymooners,” and was the last surviving member of the cast, passed away in New York City at the age of 99.
Randolph was under hospice care and died of natural causes, as confirmed by her son, Randy, reported TMZ.
On “The Honeymooners,” Randolph’s character was married to Art Carney’s Ed Norton and they were the neighbors of Ralph and Alice Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows.
Born Joyce Sirola to a Finnish American family in Detroit, she began her career in show business with a touring production of “Stage Door” before moving to New York to work in theater and television, appearing in shows like “Buck Rogers.”
Gleason spotted her in a commercial and cast her in “The Honeymooners” in 1951. The show started as a sketch on “Cavalcade of Stars” and “The Jackie Gleason Show” before becoming a standalone sitcom on CBS in 1955 and 1956.
Despite not appearing in later revivals of the series, Randolph struggled to find other roles due to her strong association with the character of Trixie. She did make an appearance on the meta sitcom “Hi Honey I’m Home” in 1991 and appeared in an episode of the TV drama “The Doctors and the Nurses.”
Randolph was puzzled by being called “the Garbo of Detroit” in early press reports, attributing it to her Scandinavian heritage. She told the New York Times about this nickname.
Despite the show’s enduring popularity, Randolph did not receive residuals from the original 39 episodes, but did receive some from the “lost episodes” that were part of the variety hours, as noted in a fondly-written 2007 profile.
Survived by her son, Randolph Richard Charles, from her marriage to Richard Lincoln Charles, who passed away in 1997.