This sewer sweeper wore blue: best known for his role on The Honeymooners, actor Art Carney also starred on stage and screen. His career proved that good entertainment can be both wholesome and enjoyable.

Those old enough to remember Art Carney and Jackie Gleason giving TV audiences a weekly dose of remarkable humor know that television does not have to be politically, morally and culturally offensive. While news of Art Carney's passing on November 9 surely evoked memories of The Honeymooners for several generations of Americans, it brought back some very special memories for me.

As a young teen, I fell in love with Carney and Gleason--as well as their TV wives Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph when I saw how eagerly my dad looked forward to the show each week. He even obtained tickets for us to be in the audience during a live broadcast of one of the episodes.

What I recall most about that experience was our discovery that Carney's famous T-shirt was actually pale blue. In the days of black-and-white television, anything totally white would have glistened offensively. Pale blue, however, appeared as white when broadcast. I also came to appreciate the genius of the cast. If anyone flubbed a line or missed a cue, Carney and Gleason would play off it and keep the show going. No taping, no retakes--just sheer ability worthy of being termed brilliance.

Born in 1918 and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, the young Carney delighted his grade-school and high-school classmates with his ability to imitate virtually anyone. His characterization of President Roosevelt attracted attention and got him a start with CBS right out of high school. But World War II intervened and found him in the U.S. Army. Though he never fired a gun, he suffered a leg wound from shrapnel that sent him to a hospital for nine months and left him with a shortened right leg and a permanent limp.

After the war, numerous bit parts in radio eventually won Carney a chance in television. He began his association with Jackie Gleason in 1950 when the two appeared in a variety of sketches in the hour-long Cavalcade of Stars. Gleason praised Carney for his exquisite timing and exceptional body language.

Then came the success of The Honeymooners, resulting in the two actors becoming identified with their characters. Carney's character, Ed Norton, made a living working in a sewer, a profession he even proudly sang about: "I work in a sewer with a guy named Bruce; together we sweep along the refuse." The genuine dignity he supplied to the job earned him honorary membership in the associations of sewer workers in several states. With his trademark porkpie hat and open vest over the T-shirt, he frequently insisted he was an important "subterranean sanitation engineer." Carney delightedly admitted that people would greet him years later with, "How are things down in the sewer?"

Even while The Honeymooners was winning Emmy awards for its stars, Carney found time to perform in movies and on stage. Once the show had run its course, he appeared in dozens more movies and stage productions. He became the first compulsively neat Felix Unger in the original Broadway play entitled The Odd Couple. For a man with no formal training as an actor, Carney hit the jackpot when he won an Oscar in 1974 for his portrayal of an old man traveling the country with his pet cat in Harry and Tonto.

A man who treasured his roots, Carney spent much of his social life with friends he made growing up. He avoided the glamour of Hollywood and stayed mostly at home, passing away in Connecticut at age 85. Together with Gleason, Meadows and Randolph, Art Carney proved that comedy could be wholesome, enjoyable and memorable. This "sewer sweeper" has left a legacy of good, clean entertainment.