Carney was a comic singer with the Horace Heidt orchestra. He began his film career in 1941 with an uncredited role in Pot o` Gold, a feature film starring James Stewart and Paulette Goddard, playing -- naturally enough -- a member of Heidt`s band. Carney, a gifted mimic, made most of his living on radio, playing character roles and impersonating celebrities. In 1941 he was the house comic on the dance-band-remote series, Matinee at Meadowbrook. One of his radio roles during the 1940s was the fish Red Lantern on Land of the Lost. In 1943 he played Billy Oldham on Joe and Ethel Turp, based on Damon Runyon stories. He appeared on The Henry Morgan Show in 1946-47. He impersonated FDR on The March of Time and Dwight D. Eisenhower on Living 1948. In 1950-51 he played Montague`s father on The Magnificent Montague. He was a supporting player on Casey, Crime Photographer and Gang Busters. As Charlie the doorman on The Morey Amsterdam Show (on both radio and TV in 1948-50), he uttered the catchphrase, "Ya know what I mean?"

In 1950 Jackie Gleason was starring in a New York-based comedy-variety series, Cavalcade of Stars, and played many different characters. One regular character was Charlie Bratten, a lunchroom loudmouth who insisted on spoiling a neighboring patron`s meal. Art Carney, established in New York as a reliable actor, played Bratten`s mild-mannered victim, Clem Finch. Gleason and Carney developed a good working chemistry, and Gleason recruited Carney to appear in other sketches, including the domestic-comedy skits featuring The Honeymooners. Art Carney gained lifelong fame for his portrayal of upstairs neighbor and sewer worker Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason`s Ralph Kramden. The success of these skits resulted in the famous filmed situation comedy The Honeymooners and the Honeymooners revivals that followed.

Beyond The Honeymooners, Carney served as Gleason`s sidekick and troupe member during many of the Gleason`s years on television, which included several CBS runs of the Gleason variety show and some Honeymooners specials on ABC. Gleason picked Carney to play Norton because he realized that Carney was so funny that Gleason would have to work twice as hard to get laughs. This "competition" between the two was likely a factor in the program`s consistently high level of humor. In fact, at one point during the 1950s, Carney was getting more media attention than Gleason, prompting Gleason to scale back Carney`s participation for a few episodes. Popular demand restored Carney to prominence in the Gleason shows.

Art Carney was very musical, and recorded prolifically in the 1950s for Columbia Records. Two of his hits were "The Song of the Sewer," sung in character as Norton, and "`Twas the Night Before Christmas," a spoken-word record in which Carney, accompanied only by a jazz drummer, recited the famous Yuletide poem in syncopation. Some of Carney`s recordings were comedy-novelty songs, but most were silly songs intended especially for children. Unlike some entertainers who exaggerated their speech patterns for young listeners, Carney respected his juvenile audience and did not talk down to it.

Between his stints with Jackie Gleason, Carney worked steadily as a character actor. In the season-two opening episode of the television series In the season two opening episode of the Batman television series, titled "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" (1966), Carney gave a memorable performance as the newly introduced villai