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Ron Carey (actor)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Carey
Ron Carey in The Montefuscos (1975)
Born
Ronald Joseph Cicenia

(1935-12-11)December 11, 1935
DiedJanuary 16, 2007(2007-01-16) (aged 71)
OccupationActor
Years active1970–1999
Spouse
Sharon Boyeronus
(m. 1968)

Ronald Joseph Cicenia (December 11, 1935 – January 16, 2007), known as Ron Carey, was an American film and television actor. The 5-foot-4-inch (1.63 m) actor was best known for playing ambitious NYPD Police Officer Carl Levitt on TV's Barney Miller, in which he was almost always surrounded by male actors (and sometimes female guest stars) who stood at least 8 inches (20 cm) taller. The series' stars (Hal Linden, Max Gail, Abe Vigoda, Ron Glass, Steve Landesberg) all stood 6 feet (1.83 m) or more. Carey appeared in the recurring role for the last six of the eight seasons of Barney Miller's run. He first appeared on the show as a criminal, Angelo Molinari (aka The Mole), in season 2, episode 22.

Carey was among the slate of actors who were members of Mel Brooks's unofficial repertory company, appearing in several of the director's films; Carey was featured in Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and History of the World: Part I. He also appeared in Fatso, directed by Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft and featuring several Brooks regulars.

Life and career

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Carey was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Fanny and John Cicenia, and was raised in an Italian American Catholic family. He attended Barringer High School, where he was class president in his senior year.[1] Carey did stand-up comedy in the 1960s, after earning a bachelor's degree in communications from Seton Hall University in 1956. His comedy centered mostly on Catholicism and his childhood of being the undersized but quick-witted kid on the block. His break came in 1966 when he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show and in 1967 he released a comedy album entitled The Slightly Irreverent Comedy of Ron Carey.[2]

From the mid-1970s on, Carey was a member of Mel Brooks' comedy troupe, appearing in featured roles in films such as High Anxiety, Silent Movie, and History of the World, Part I. He also appeared in supporting roles in other films and on television, and was seen in scores of commercials, including some T-shirt ads for Hanes, an ad for Nabisco's snack cracker Better Cheddars, where he sang, and a Post Honeycomb ad, in which he played a character named Mr. Big who came to the Honeycomb Hideout looking for a cereal with "a big, big bite."[3] He is most remembered for his role as the diligent but somewhat obsequious and passive-aggressive Officer Carl Levitt, which he played from 1976 to 1982 on the TV series Barney Miller.

Carey died of a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, in January 2007. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Sharon, and his brother, James Cicenia.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1970 The Out-of-Towners Cab Driver - Boston
1971 Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? Larry the Bartender
1971 Made for Each Other Group Member #1
1971 Dynamite Chicken Himself
1971 NBC Children's Theater episode: “Super Plastic Elastic Goggles"
1973 The Corner Bar Donald Hooten TV series, 6 episodes
1975 The Montefuscos Frank Montefusco TV series, 9 episodes
1976 Silent Movie Devour
1976-1982 Barney Miller Officer Carl Levitt / Angelo Molinari aka The Mole TV series, 121 episodes
1977 High Anxiety Brophy
1979 $weepstake$ Donnihue TV series, episode "Roscoe, Elizabeth, and the M.C."
1980 Fatso Frankie
1981 History of the World: Part I Swiftus
1982 Benson Nash season 4 episodes 1 & 2
1984 Johnny Dangerously Pat
1989 Have Faith Father Vincent Paglia TV series, 7 episodes
1991 Lucky Luke Joe Dalton
1994 Troublemakers Sheriff Fox
1997 The Good Bad Guy Robert Lambert
1999 Food for Thought Business Man Short, (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ "Across the Boards with Rodi", The News, November 20, 1981. Accessed May 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "He was the class 'clown', witty and clever, he would drive his teachers right up a wall yet, in spite of this, he was a remarkably good and popular student. Ron was the president of his high school senior class of Barringer High School in Newark, won the history and citizenship awards and was also a member of the high honor society."
  2. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (January 19, 2007). "Ron Carey, Comic Actor, Dies at 71". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  3. ^ Vintage Old 1970's Post Honeycomb Cereal Commercial, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP2iT0ub8lc
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