What better autograph and celebrity encounter to share on Valentine’s Day than a star of the most romantic comedy ever to come down the pike – The Honeymooners! Jane Kean was the fourth and final actress to play the role of Trixie Norton on The Jackie Gleason Show when the show moved to Miami Beach. She remained in the show for the small handful of reunion specials in the 1970’s as well. Admittedly, the later color shows were inferior to the Classic 39 and earlier episodes from Gleason’s show. But the fact that this is one of my all-time favorite series made her autograph highly desirable, even before I had actually been able to revisit these Miami Beach episodes when a handful were finally released in 2006. Two more sets are on the way too, and I’m excited.
I had already amassed a respectable collection of Jane Kean signatures on a variety of Honeymooners photos – some on which I was able to add the signature of Art Carney by mailing them to him. As someone who frequently frequented the Hollywood Collectors Shows, Jane Kean was quite obtainable for a modest fee. But when Bob pointed her out when she casually strolled into the Pantages Theatre to simply enjoy the Actors Fund Benefit reading of Casablanca on October 2, 2005, I jumped at the chance to grab her and get a photo with her. To date, she is only the second of the ten stars of The Honeymooners (four wives for each male lead) that I have been able to actually meet in person.
I ran into Jane Kean once again on the evening of Saturday, April 2, 2011, at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex. This time she had actually been performing in the S.T.A.G.E. (Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event) production of Original Cast II, having earlier sang the song Nothing Can Replace a Man from the play Ankles Away. Ironically, she had been originally scheduled to appear at the Hollywood Show that afternoon, but had cancelled – presumably because of her commitment to be at this show.
As she chatted with friends and fans, I slipped in and got the above photo with her, which is a bit nicer than the one that I had obtained over five years earlier.
To see more Honeymooners autographs, click here…
The stars roaming the Casablanca crowd will continue…
Celebrities of the 2011 Original Cast production will continue…
Leave a Reply