Pert L. Kelton (October 14, 1907 – October 30, 1968) was an American stage, movie, radio, and television actress. She was the original Alice Kramden in ''

The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It f ...

'' with

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

. During the 1930s, she was a prominent comedic supporting and leading actress in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

films such as

Gregory La Cava Gregory La Cava (March 10, 1892 – March 1, 1952) was an American film director of Italian descent best known for his films of the 1930s, including ''My Man Godfrey'' and ''Stage Door'', which earned him nominations for Academy Award for Best ...

's ''

Bed of Roses Bed of roses is an English expression that represents a carefree life. This idiomatic expression is still popular. In the thirteenth-century work Le Roman de la Rose (called "The French Iliad" in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable), a L ...

'' with

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Cinema of the United States, Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 193 ...

and

Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent cinema actor George Walsh. He wa ...

's ''

The Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenn ...

'' with

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' (1 ...

and

George Raft George Raft (né Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembe ...

(both released in 1933). She performed in a dozen Broadway productions between 1925 and 1968. She is probably best-known for creating the role of Mrs. Paroo in the original 1957 Broadway production of the musical ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'', which she reprised in the 1962 movie adaptation. In the early 1950s, her career was interrupted as a result of Hollywood blacklisting, leading to her departure from ''The Honeymooners''.

Early life

Pert L. Kelton was born in 1907 in Great Falls, Montana. Her mother, Sue Kelton, was a native of Canada; her father, Edward Kelton, a native of California."The Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930"
enumeration date April 14, 1930, District 55, Warner-Kelton Hotel, 6326 Lexington Avenue, Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, California. Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce and Labor, Washington, D.C. FamilySearch. Retrieved August 31, 2017. Kelton was reportedly named by her aunt, who suggested the name "Pert" to her mother after her favorite theatrical role, the character "Pert Barlow" in a play called ''Checkers''. In 1910, while accompanying her parents and sister on an overseas tour of shows, she debuted on stage at the age of three in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

."Inside the Playbill: Minor Miracle - Opening Night at the Henry Miller's Theatre"
''Playbill'', October 7, 1965; "Who's Who in the Cast", p. 34. Retrieved September 3, 2017. Upon her return to the United States with her family, Kelton was enrolled in private schools for her early formal education and for extensive training in dance, voice, and drama. By age 12, after appearing for a while with her parents as "The Three Keltons", she began appearing as a solo act or "single" in vaudeville; and by age 17 she was performing on Broadway, initially as a cast member in

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

's 1925 musical comedy '' Sunny'', starring Marilyn Miller.

Films

Kelton and her parents had moved to California to work in Hollywood films by the latter half of 1927. Her first credited movie role there was as Rosie in

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

' 1929 release '' Sally'', based on the Broadway hit by the same name. The federal census of 1930 showed that Kelton was living in Los Angeles at the Warner-Kelton Hotel – later called the ''Hotel Brevoort (and Tropical Gardens)'' – sharing room 666. That same census identifies all three of the Keltons as employed actors in "motion pictures". Kelton was a young comedienne in A-list movies during the 1930s, often portraying the leading lady's wisecracking friend. She had a memorable turn in 1933 as dance hall singer "Trixie" in ''

'' alongside

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor and director. He began his career performing in film as a child, and successfully transitioned to adult roles and directing in both film and television. At age nine, h ...

, and

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian-American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray attained international r ...

. Directed by

, the film is based on the story of Steve Brodie, the first man who reportedly jumped off the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It w ...

in 1886 and lived to brag about it. Kelton at one point in the film sings to a rowdy, appreciative crowd in an energetic dive, using a curious New York accent to good comedic effect, with Beery and Raft arguing afterwards over her attentions. In Gregory LaCava's 1933 pre-Code comedy ''

'', Kelton plays Minnie, a witty prostitute who is a partner in crime with Lorry, portrayed by

. The two women in the plot are fond of getting admiring men helplessly drunk before robbing them, at least until getting caught and tossed into jail. Kelton has all the best lines, surprisingly wicked and amusing observations that would never be allowed in an American film after the Hollywood

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as th ...

was adopted. Nevertheless, in 1933 her performance in ''Bed of Roses'' was widely praised by critics in leading newspapers and trade papers. Kelton for the remainder of the 1930s performed in over 20 more feature films and shorts. After her appearance in the 1939 film ''Whispering Enemies'', she redirected her career, returning again to theatre and to performing increasingly on radio and later on the rapidly expanding medium of television. She did not return to the "big screen" until 1962, when she was cast as Mrs. Paroo in ''

.''

Radio and return to New York

By April 1940, Pert had left California and was living in New York City again, sharing a $65-per-month apartment in Manhattan on West 55th Street with three other women, two of whom were employed as dancers in the theatre and the third as a secretary."The Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940"
enumeration date April 23, 1940, Manhattan Borough, New York County, New York. FamilySearch. Retrieved September 6, 2017. A federal census taker canvassing Manhattan that year concisely identified Kelton in his

enumeration An enumeration is a complete, ordered listing of all the items in a collection. The term is commonly used in mathematics and computer science to refer to a listing of all of the element (mathematics), elements of a Set (mathematics), set. The pre ...

ledger as "Actress, Theatre & Movies" and recorded her given age as only 28, although in the spring of 1940 Kelton was actually 32 years old. If not a mistake in documentation, it is possible that Kelton herself, feeling the pressures to maintain a youthful profile within the image-conscious realm of entertainment, "shaved" a few years off her age when answering census questions at that time. Her documented lack of consistent employment during the previous year may be indicative too of the professional pressures she was experiencing after her film career in Hollywood began to wane in the late 1930s. According to the United States Census of 1940, Kelton was employed for only six weeks during the entire year of 1939, a total time of employment far less than the weeks worked by her roommates over the same period. Once Kelton had resettled in New York during the early 1940s, she began to work in theatre again, and she became a familiar voice on radio as well, performing on programs such as '' Easy Aces'', ''It's Always Albert'', ''The Stu Erwin Show'', and on the 1941 soap opera ''We Are Always Young''. Later, In 1949, she did the voices of five different radio characters on ''

The Milton Berle Show ''Texaco Star Theater'' is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Mil ...

''. She was also a regular cast member of ''The

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

Show''; and in the early 1950s, she performed the role of the tart maid Agnes in the

Monty Woolley Edgar Montillion "Monty" Woolley (August 17, 1888May 6, 1963) was an American film and theater actor.Obituary '' Variety'', May 8, 1963, page 223. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play '' The Man ...

vehicle ''The Magnificent Montague'', along with reprising her Berle show role of Martha Harrison, who never said anything but "Yeeessss!"

Television

Kelton appeared in '' Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'', first aired January 26, 1951, hosted by

, and with Kaye Ballard,

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

, and

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

'' comedy sketches on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

's '' Cavalcade of Stars''. These sketches formed the eventual basis for the 1955 sitcom ''The Honeymooners''.

starred as her husband Ralph Kramden, and Art Carney as their upstairs neighbor Ed Norton.

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and comedienne, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, music ...

played Trixie, the burlesque dancer wife of Norton, for one sketch before being replaced by Joyce Randolph. Kelton appeared in the original sketches, generally running about 10 to 20 minutes, shorter than the later one-season half-hour series episodes and 1960s hour-long musical versions. However, she was abruptly dropped from her role due to being

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

and was replaced by

Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows (born Audrey Cotter; February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress who portrayed the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy ''The Honeymooners''. She was the younger sister of H ...

. Rather than acknowledge that she was blacklisted, her producers explained that her departure was based on alleged heart problems. Kelton and her husband had been listed in ''

Red Channels ''Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television'' was an anti-Communist document published in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Issued by the right-wing journal ''Counterattack'' on June 22, 1950, the pamphle ...

'', an early 1950s publication of alleged communists or fellow travelers in the U.S. entertainment industry. Kelton sued the publication for libel, but later dropped the suit. In his book ''The Forgotten Network'', David Weinstein wrote Kelton remained on ''Cavalcade of Stars'' through the final season of the series (1951–1952), and suggests that it may have been because Jackie Gleason had resisted attempts at having her dropped. In the 1960s, Kelton was invited back to Gleason's CBS show to play Alice's mother in an episode of the hour-long musical version of ''The Honeymooners'' (also known as ''The Color Honeymooners''), with Sheila MacRae as a fetching young Alice. In 1963, Kelton appeared on ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'', playing the overbearing mother of

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

in the episode " Miniature." The next year she guest-starred on the popular family sitcom ''My Three Sons''. In this episode "Stage Door Bub", Kelton portrays Thelma Wilson, a veteran itinerant stage actress who longs for a settled domestic life but soon realizes that that lifestyle is actually ill-suited for her personality. In her last years, Kelton was strongly identified with Spic and Span because of commercials for the product.

Hotel owner

Pert Kelton was part owner of the Warner-Kelton Hotel, built in the late 1920s, at 6326 Lexington Avenue in Los Angeles. Kelton and her parents resided in the hotel during the late 1920s until at least 1930. (A February 20, 1928, article in the ''Standard-Examiner'' (Ogden, Utah) incorrectly identifies the hotel as the Walton-Kelton Hotel.) The hotel catered to actors, poets, and musicians, such as

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

, Orry Kelly,

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart's ...

, Monroe Salisbury,

Sadakichi Hartmann Carl Sadakichi Hartmann (November 8, 1867 – November 22, 1944) was an American art critic, poet, and anarchist. Biography Hartmann, born on the artificial island of Dejima, Nagasaki, to a Japanese mother Osada Hartmann (who died soon after ...

, and later, Elizabeth Short. The building had a small outdoor theater, in a garden to the south, with a wishing well that may have inspired the song "

There's a Small Hotel "There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Originally written for but dropped from the musical ''Billy Rose's Jumbo'' (1935), it was used in ''On Your Toes'' (1936), where it was introduced by R ...

" from the musical ''

On Your Toes ''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939. While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dol ...

'' (1936). It also housed a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. In the United State ...

in the basement. A sign above the hotel entrance reads "Joyously Enter Here". It was later the home of the California Television Society.

Personal life and death

When away from rehearsing and performing, Kelton enjoyed art as a pastime and became a "passionate" painter."Who's Who in the Cast"
for the Broadway play ''Spofford'' at the ANTA Theatre, New York, New York, premiered December 14, 1967; ''Playbill'', December 1967, page 36. Retrieved September 4, 2017. She was married to actor-director Ralph S. Bell, with whom she had two sons, Brian and Stephen. A resident of

Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey Washington Township (officially the Township of Washington) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 9 ...

, Kelton died of a heart attack on October 30, 1968, at age 61 while swimming at the YMHA in Ridgewood, New Jersey."Pert Kelton, Versatile Character Actress, Dead; Made Broadway Debut in '25 in the Musical ''Sunny'' Played Gleason's TV Wife Also on Radio Show"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', October 31, 1968. Accessed November 17, 2017. "Washington Township, N.J., Oct. 30-Pert Kelton, the character actress, was stricken, apparently with a heart attack, while swimming this morning at the Young Men's-Young Women's Hebrew Association in Ridgewood. She was pronounced dead at Valley Hospital. She was 61 years old and lived here with her husband, Ralph Bell, at 112 President Road."

Filmography

Features *'' Sally'' (1929) as Rosie *'' Hot Curves'' (1930) as Cookie *''

'' (1933) as Minnie Brown *''

'' (1933) as Trixie Odbray *'' The Meanest Gal in Town'' (1934) as Lulu White *'' Sing and Like It'' (1934) as Ruby *''

Bachelor Bait ''Bachelor Bait'' is a 1934 American comedy film about a man (William Watts) who is fired from his job issuing marriage licenses at city hall because of the actions of a co-worker. He starts a match making business which becomes very successful b ...

'' (1934) as Allie Summers *'' Pursued'' (1934) as Gilda (uncredited) *'' Lightning Strikes Twice'' (1934) as Fay, the Fan Dancer *'' Hooray for Love'' (1935) as Trixie Chummy *'' Mary Burns, Fugitive'' (1935) as Goldie Gordon *''

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

'' (1935) as Vera Delmar *'' Kelly the Second'' (1936) as Gloria *'' Sitting on the Moon'' (1936) as Mattie *'' Cain and Mabel'' (1936) as Toddy *'' Laughing at Trouble'' (1936) as Ella McShane *'' Women of Glamour'' (1937) as Nan LaRoque *'' The Hit Parade'' (1937) as Eadie White *'' Meet the Boyfriend'' (1937) as Beulah Potts *'' You Can't Take It with You'' (1938) as Inmate (uncredited) *'' Slander House'' (1938) as Mazie Mason *'' Rhythm of the Saddle'' (1938) as Aunt Hattie *'' Whispering Enemies'' (1939) as Virginia Daniels *''Hollywood Bound'' (1947), Edited from ''A Night at the Biltmore Bowl'' *''

'' (1962) as Mrs. Paroo *'' Love and Kisses'' (1965) as Nanny *''

The Comic ''The Comic'' is a 1969 American Pathécolor comedy-drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Carl Reiner. It stars Dick Van Dyke as Billy Bright (which was the original title of the film), Michele Lee as Bright's love interest, and R ...

'' (1969) as Mama Bell (posthumous release; final film role) Short Subjects: *''Their Wives' Vacation'' (1930) *''Next Door Neighbors'' (1931) as Mrs. Green *''The Albany Branch'' (1931) as Pert Kelsey *''Signing 'em Up'' (1933) as Herself *''Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8'' (1935) *''A Night at the Biltmore Bowl'' (1935) as Pert Kelton *''Pan Handlers'' (1936) as Pert *''Cinema Circus'' (1937) as Pert Kelton (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * * *
Kelton Family history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelton, Pert 1907 births 1968 deaths American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Hollywood blacklist People from Great Falls, Montana People from Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey American vaudeville performers 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Montana Actors from Bergen County, New Jersey

Early life

Films

Radio and return to New York

Television

Hotel owner

Personal life and death

Filmography

See also

References

External links