Pert Kelton
| Pert Kelton | |
|---|---|
Kelton in 1942.
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| Born |
October 14, 1907 Great Falls, Montana, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1968 (aged 61) Ridgewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Years active | 1925–1968 |
| Spouse(s) | Ralph Bell (?–1968) 2 children |
| Children | Brian Bell Stephen Bell |
Pert Kelton (October 14, 1907 – October 29, 1968) was an American vaudeville, movie, radio and television actress. She was the first actress who played Alice Kramden in The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason and was a prominent comedic supporting and leading film actress in the 1930s, including Bed of Roses and The Bowery in 1933. She performed in a dozen Broadway productions between 1925 and 1968. However, her career was interrupted during the 1950s as a result of blacklisting, leading to her departure from The Honeymooners.
Kelton was born in Great Falls, Montana. Her parents were in Vaudeville. The daughter joined the act, making it the Three Keltons.
Kelton was a young comedienne in A-list movies during the 1930s, often as the leading lady's wisecracking friend. She had a memorable turn in 1933 as dance hall singer "Trixie" in The Bowery alongside Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper and Fay Wray. Directed by Raoul Walsh, the film depicts Steve Brodie, the first man to supposedly jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and live to brag about it. Kelton sings to a rowdily appreciative crowd in an energetic dive, using a curious New York accent to good comedic effect, with Beery and Raft arguing over her attentions afterward.
As the witty young Minnie in Gregory LaCava's pre-Code comedy Bed of Roses (1933), she plays a bawdy prostitute (along with Constance Bennett) fond of getting admiring men helplessly drunk before robbing them, at least until getting caught and tossed back into jail. Kelton has all the best lines, surprisingly wicked and amusing observations that would never be allowed in an American film after the Hollywood Production Code was adopted. The movie remains realistic in terms of the interactions of the characters and features an early turn by Joel McCrea as the leading man, a small boat skipper who pulls Bennett from the river after she dives to escape capture.
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