$17.95, BearManor Media
Jane Kean
By Ashley King/Special to The Malibu Times
Jane Kean, more popularly known as Trixie, Norton’s wife from the popular ’60s series “The Honeymooners,” recently published her autobiography “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Honeymooners … I Had a Life.” She will be signing copies of her book on March 20 at Cosentino’s in the Malibu Country Mart at noon.
Kean, who started off as a Broadway performer, moved on to star with her sister, Betty Kean, on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and did numerous shows at various popular nightclubs and theaters across the nation.
However, her role in “The Honeymooners” has given her everlasting popularity despite her wide-ranging roles and guest appearances in various other popular series like “Dallas,” “Facts of Life,” General Hospital,” Love Boat” and “Growing Pains.”
Kean remembers Jackie Gleason searching for an actress-singer to be “Trixie” for a new musical, “Honeymooner” for his CBS series.
“I had worked with Jackie in summer stock and on Broadway in a musical revue, so he knew my work,” Kean said in a press release. “When he learned I was available, I never auditioned, he just gave me the part.”
Kean talks about her sister, Betty, her relationship with Walter Winchell, her Broadway experiences, her friendships with Gleason, Art Carney, Johnnie Ray and Lucille Ball.
Kean said she “tells it like it was” growing up among the who’s who of classic Hollywood and Broadway. Her book, which has received positive reviews thus far, has also sparked a recent story in the tabloid Globe that touches on an ordeal between her and Ed Sullivan. Kean’s book “moves wildly here, there and everywhere, but that’s not a fault, by any means,” reviewer Laura Wagner for Book Points writes. “This, instead, gives her life a breezy, fun quality, making this read an enjoyable one.”
Kean continues to be active, starring in a number of touring shows including “Gypsy,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “On Golden Pond,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”
She and her husband, Joe Hecht, who have homes in Toluca Lake and Malibu, recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
For more information on the book signing, call 310.457.3235.