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Ron Carey

Ron Carey

He was a notably short, Italian, nasal-toned and mischievous-looking fellow, a perfect type for the stand-up comedy circuit and for playing Brooklynesque characters in T.V. sitcoms and films...which is just what Ron Carey did. He was born Ronald Joseph Cicenia in Newark, New Jersey, on December eleventh, 1935, into a huge Italian family; his father was a singing waiter at one time. Ron earned his Bachelor's degree in communications from Seton Hall University in South Orange in 1956, but it didn't take him long to change directions. Together his pint-sized frame (actually, he was 5'7", but "acted" much shorter), pushy attitude and elastic face seemed like an ideal blend for inducing laughs, so he decided to begin a career in entertainment instead. Ron moved to near-by New York and took to the comedy stage, finding work in such prime clubs as "The Improvisation". He soon earned notice for his "little man" humor, which was built around Italian family and Roman Catholic "guilt" jokes (in reality, he once considered being a priest). Ron finally gained some momentum on T.V. making various funnyman appearances on the talk/variety show formats hosted by the best of the best -- Jack Paar, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson. He also found lucrative work in commercials playing various feisty or hapless characters. Ron finally broke into films with the Jack Lemmon/Sandy Dennis comedy The Out of Towners (1970) as a Boston taxi driver, then continued on with other minor bits in Who Killed Mary Whats'ername? (1971) and the cult film Made for Each Other (1971) starring Joseph Bologna and Renée Taylor. Earlier Ron appeared on Broadway in the couple's 1968 hit comedy "Lovers and Other Strangers." It wasn't until his work as a secondary staple in Mel Brooks' madcap company that he earned even a modicum of success in films. His participation in the zany parodies Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977) and History of the World: Part I (1981) occurred during the height of his T.V. fame. Likewise, he went on to deliver a substantial role as plus-sized Dom DeLuise's unsympathetic brother Frankie in Fatso (1980), directed by Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft. As for the smaller screen, a regular player on the summer variety series The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show (1972) led to his being cast in the New York-area sitcom The Corner Bar (1972) and the ethnic family comedy The Montefuscos (1975). A steady pay-check was not to be had, however, until he was added to the second season ensemble of Barney Miller (1975) headed by Hal Linden and Abe Vigoda. Ron earned sympathy strokes as Carl Levitt, a brown-nosing, eager-beaver patrolman who yearned to be a plainclothes detective in Barney's police agency, but just didn't measure up because of his vertically challenged stature. Ron, whose character finally received a promotion after the long haul, stayed with the popular show until its cancellation in 1982. Ron died of complications from a stroke at seventy-one years old in Los Angeles and is survived by long-time wife Sharon.

Personal information

Birthday

1935-12-11

Movies and TV shows :

Acts of Love and Other Comedies

Acts of Love and Other Comedies

1973

7.0

Movie
poster

Alice

1976

7.0

TV
poster

Barney Miller

1975

7.3

TV
Dynamite Chicken

Dynamite Chicken

1971

5.4

Movie
Fatso

Fatso

1980

5.6

Movie
poster

Have Faith

1989

0.0

TV
High Anxiety

High Anxiety

1977

6.4

Movie
History of the World: Part I

History of the World: Part I

1981

6.8

Movie
Johnny Dangerously

Johnny Dangerously

1984

6.2

Movie
Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke

1991

5.4

Movie
poster

Lucky Luke

1992

5.6

TV
Lucky Luke 2

Lucky Luke 2

1992

5.3

Movie
Made For Each Other

Made For Each Other

1971

5.0

Movie
Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World

Making History: Mel Brooks on Creating the World

2009

0.0

Movie
Peeping Times

Peeping Times

1978

4.0

Movie
Silent Movie

Silent Movie

1976

6.5

Movie
poster

Sweepstakes

1979

0.0

TV
poster

The Corner Bar

1972

5.0

TV
The Good Bad Guy

The Good Bad Guy

1997

5.2

Movie
poster

The Johnny Cash Show

1969

6.5

TV
poster

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

5.6

TV
poster

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

5.1

TV
poster

The Montefuscos

1975

5.0

TV
The Out-of-Towners

The Out-of-Towners

1970

6.7

Movie
poster

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

7.4

TV
Troublemakers

Troublemakers

1994

6.1

Movie
Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?

Who Killed Mary Whats'ername?

1971

4.6

Movie