Have Yourself a Carney Christmas: Enjoy Art Carney’s Memorable Appearances in Christmas-Themed TV Episodes, Movies & Songs
While Art Carney could certainly be a strong dramatic actor when a role required it (see his Best Actor Oscar-winning performance in 1974’s Harry and Tonto for one example of a role where he brilliantly combined drama with humor), he often brought a whimsical, often childlike, sense of imagination and play to some of the characters he portrayed — and even when he was appearing as himself.
That’s why it’s always so enjoyable to watch and listen to the several Christmas-related projects in which Carney was involved. I’m not sure if he purposely sought out roles in stories that were set around one of the ultimate holidays that imbues a sense of childlike wonder into those who celebrate it, even if they are adults, but however he got these parts, he went into them with full gusto, using all of his verbal, physical and expressive talents to wonderful effect.
Remind WE WISH YOU A CARNEY CHRISTMAS
You can enjoy a very Carney Christmas with this selection of holiday songs, shows and movies that feature the actor doing some of his most enjoyable work (enjoyable for the audience, to be sure, but Carney also seems to be enjoying himself in each of these, as well).
Art Carney’s 1954 Christmas Music Recordings
“‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”
Following his early days as a comic singer and actor on radio, Carney recorded a number of comedic novelty songs and also some records that were silly songs intended for children.
Two examples from both categories were Christmas tunes released on a record in 1954.
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” was a spoken-word recitation of Clement C. Moore’s classic poem set to a jazzy score, with Carney offering fun and animated vocalizations to the story, sounding as if he were onstage at a smoky coffee house reading a poem before an audience of that era’s beatnik crowd.
This song could be a parody of that whole “beat” scene, but Carney also seems genuinely into it, and it is one of the better “beatnik” holiday songs to come out during the mid to late ‘50s (even Jim Backus and Daws Butler put one out in 1959 called “I Was a Teenage Reindeer”!)
Crazy, man … crazy!
“Santa and the Doodle-Li-Boop”
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” was the B-side of the record; on Side A was a song called “Santa and the Doodle-Li-Boop,” which is an example of that straight-up silliness geared toward kids (you can just tell by the nonsense word of its title, which is uttered throughout the tune).
But again, Carney really gets into it, seeming like a kid himself with his enthusiasm and sense of fun.
The Jackie Gleason Show and The Honeymooners
Of course, some of Carney’s classic Christmas-themed performances came in his most famous role: as Ed Norton on the classic, formative sitcom The Honeymooners, which won him an Emmy among several nominations.
Just the couple of minutes seen in this Honeymooners Christmas episode clip below shows the wonderful interplay between Carney and star Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden. Honestly, just seeing Carney enter the scene and start doing his pioneering “sitcom wacky neighbor” thing is enough to crack me up.
At the end of the episode, the cast, including Carney, “breaks the fourth wall” to wish their studio audience, and those watching at home, a Merry Christmas:
That episode, also called “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” aired on Dec. 24, 1955, a few weeks into the show’s premiere as a standalone sitcom after premiering as a series of sketches on The Jackie Gleason Show (and on that show under its original title, Cavalcade of Stars). (Those earlier ones were among the so-called “lost episodes” that I recall began being rebroadcast in 1985; that’s when I, as a 15-year-old, discovered and fell in love with The Honeymooners, and especially with Carney as Norton.)
I had originally hoped to show you a 1951 Honeymooners Christmas-themed sketch from Jackie Gleason that I had found, but between the time I put it in here and when I was getting ready to publish, I saw that the copyright holder has blocked the sharing of the video in posts like this.
You might be able to track it down. There’s some wild stuff there, with Gleason playing multiple characters and Carney, at one point, dancing with singer Patricia Morison, who drops by as herself. Also of note is Pert Kelton as the original Alice Kramden!
You can get a sense of what that 1951 special was like in this clip below of the Christmas 1952 Jackie Gleason Show special featuring what was basically the previous year’s Honeymooners Christmas sketch redone with some tweaks — and also with the more familiar Audrey Meadows as Alice.
Here’s Carney and company in another Jackie Gleason Show Christmas episode that I think is from one of the series’ late 1960s or early ’70s episodes (I haven’t been able to determine exactly what season it’s from, but it’s still fun!)
And the Honeymooners/Jackie Gleason Show gang even got together for some Christmas specials in the late ‘70s, well after Gleason’s show had ended. Carney and Gleason also shine here, and it’s interesting to see the iconic Honeymooners characters about 20 years older (and Ralph with a mustache!).
The Twilight Zone: “The Night of the Meek”
You can definitely see Carney at some of this dramatic best in this classic installment of Rod Serling’s sci-fi/fantasy anthology series, which was one of the episodes shot on video and premiered on Dec. 23, 1960, during the show’s second season.
Courtesy Everett Collection
Written by Serling, “The Night of the Meek” features Carney as Henry Corwin, a drunken department store Santa Claus who is fired by his boss (John Fiedler) on Christmas Eve. He then finds a magical sack that allows him to give people anything they want.
Although you can see where the story’s ending is going, Carney’s performance of Serling’s lines is emotionally gripping, even tear-inducing at times, and the actor’s work allows this episode to offer a wonderful encapsulation of what the spirit of Christmas should be about.
Christmas in Disneyland (1976)
I had been completely unaware of this Art Carney-led holiday special until just a week ago. It seems like something I, as a 6-year-old, would have watched when it premiered (Dec. 8, 1976), had I known about it at the time.
Carney plays dual roles here, and his main one is as “Gramps,” who is escorting his grandson and granddaughter to Disneyland — and not at all liking it. When the kids want to go on a ride or see some other attraction, Gramps does some Scrooge-like griping about how all of this is nonsense and that people should focus on hard work and making money.
But don’t worry; by the end of the special, Gramps will learn to appreciate Christmas and the youthful fun to be had at Disneyland, thanks to some employees who help him see the error of his ways (including a magician named Dr. Wunderbar, played by Carney with his more familiar joviality, and others played by Sandy Duncan and Glen Campbell, each also in multiple roles!)
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
Yeah, yeah, I know this is a “Life Day” special, and not technically a Christmas program, but it’s close enough, and it shows how an Art Carney appearance can liven up any holiday special — even one taking place in a galaxy far, far away.
Among the rest of the weirdness in this Star Wars entry that George Lucas (at least at one point, not sure about now) practically traveled through hyperspace in order to distance himself as far away from as possible, is its guest-star roster of old-school TV staples, including Bea Arthur, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll and Carney. He plays a trader named Saun Dann, who is friendly with the Wookiees on Chewbacca’s home planet and is also secretly a member of the Rebel Alliance, so you know he’s a cool guy.
© 1978 CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold (1981)
Carney also had a dual role in this lesser-known Rankin/Bass stop-motion holiday special that premiered on Dec. 23, 1981.
He narrates the tale and also voices the main character of Barney Kilakarney with a nice Irish brogue.
The Night They Saved Christmas (1984)
I’ve lost count at this point how many different people have had to “save Christmas” in a holiday special or movie, but this one that premiered on Dec. 13, 1984, is among the more entertaining of those “(fill in the blank) Saves Christmas” entries, thanks in large part, of course, to Carney.
Here, the actor plays the big guy himself — Santa Claus — in a story that finds Santa’s home threatened when an oil company starts blasting at the North Pole! Costarring Jaclyn Smith and Paul Le Mat, the film earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Children’s Program.
© RHI Entertainment/Courtesy: Everett Collection
Carney is fun as Santa, and he brings some of Gramps’ edge to the character, especially in this scene where he gets a bit fed up with all of his elves constantly singing “Jingle Bells.”
1988 Coca-Cola Christmas Commercial
I vaguely recall the series of late ‘80s commercials that Carney appeared in for Coca-Cola alongside Brian Bonsall (Family Ties).
They played a grandpa and his grandson, and Carney’s grandfather in these ads is a far cry from the grumpy one he played in Christmas at Disneyland.
This gramps enjoys spending various days out with his grandson (all enhanced by Coca-Cola, of course), and he has a sense of magic, fun and wonder about him — as Art Carney seems to have had himself.
That is especially evident in this Christmas commercial that features the always impressive Rockefeller Center Christmas tree as its backdrop.