Joyce Randolph, star of iconic ‘Honeymooners’ series, dead at 99

Joyce Randolph, who starred in the 1955 sitcom “The Honeymooners,” has died. She was 99. Randolph reportedly died peacefully Saturday in her sleep in her New York City home due to the effects of old age, her son told TMZ . According to the outlet, the last surviving member of the hit television show had been in hospice care at the time of her death and was unable to walk.

The Michigan native, who was born in 1924, got her acting start when she moved to New York City in 1950 to star in a Broadway show called “Ladies Night in a Turkish Bath” before moving into TV. According to The Hollywood Reporter , Randolph was initially tapped to star in the iconic television show after Jackie Gleason, who played Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden on the show, saw her doing a commercial for chewing gum and asked her to be a part of his variety show “Cavalcade of Stars.” Randolph would later star in the show’s spinoff series “The Honeymooners” as Trixie Norton which only ran for 39 episodes before being canceled.

The show also starred Art Carney as sewer worker Ed Norton and Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden. “We just played ourselves,” Randolph once told The New York Times regarding the show in 2012. ” Nobody told us to characterize in any way. It was learn those lines and go on.” Despite the show’s very short run, it was announced in 2016 that “The Honeymooners” would be getting a modern day reboot on CBS though there have been no updates since the announcement.

In 2017, Randolph was spotted walking the red carpet of a musical version of the iconic television during a brief stint at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse. Since news of her death broke, several social media users have taken to posting tributes to the late actress. “It’s the end of an era,” one user posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“Another chapter of the golden age of television officially comes to a close with the passing of Joyce Randolph.” “So long Trixie, and thank you,” a second fan posted . “Farewell to the last star of one of the greatest and most enduring sitcoms of all time,” a third person commented . The late actress is survived by her son, Randy, who revealed that his mother will be cremated and that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Randolph’s memory should donate to the Entertainment Community Fund..