The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Joyce Randolph (The Honeymooners, The Jackie Gleason Show, Everything’s Jake), famous for her role as Trixie in The Honeymooners, has passed away at the age of 99. Her son, Randy, told TMZ that Randolph died in her New York home Saturday morning.
Randolph began her acting career performing in local theater in her native Detroit. She moved to New York City to pursue her acting career and continued working on live performances like Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath. She also did early television for the General Electric Co.
She was discovered by Jackie Gleason (The Honeymooners, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Life of Riley) while doing a commercial for Clorets. Randolph was hired by Gleason to play the role of Trixie in Cavalcade of Stars, which premiered on the DuMont Television Network in 1949.
This role would lead her to work on CBS’ The Jackie Gleason Show and then The Honeymooners once it spun off. Her role in Honeymooners one of her most known works, where she famously worked alongside Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows (That Touch of Mink, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Honeymooners), and Art Carney (The Honeymooners, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Art Carney Special). She was the last surviving member of the foursome.
When asked about the lack of rehearsals Gleason was famous for, The Hollywood Reporter wrote how in 2012, she told The New York Times in , “We just played ourselves. Nobody told us to characterize in any way. It was learn those lines and go on.”
Following her legendary role in the original The Honeymooners, Randolph reprised her role as Trixie in Hi Honey, I’m Home, the 1991-92 ABC sitcom.
She married marketing executive Richard Charles in 1955 and remained married until he died in 1997. Her only child is Randolph Richard Charles.