Pert Kelton Biography

She was onstage from age three in her parents' vaudeville act; by age 12 she was performing solo. In 1925 she debuted on Broadway, then joined the rush to Hollywood in 1929 at the dawn of the sound era. She was fairly busy through the '30s as a comedic supporting actress, usually playing a floozie who was the heroine's friend; occasionally she had leads. In 1939 she retired from the screen, coming back for a few character roles in the '60s. In 1950-52 she was the original Alice Kramden opposite Jackie Gleason in TV's The Honeymooners, when that show was still just a segment of the variety series Cavalcade of Stars. Yet another victim of the McCarthy Era, she was named as a supposed Communist sympathizer in the unscrupulous publication Red Scare, and her career was ruined. She married actor Ralph Bell and was the mother of actor Brian Bell. ~ Rovi

• 1. Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.
  2. Mrs. Paroo: It's a well-known principle that if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you'll never strike much of a fire.
  3. Marcellus Washburn: I heard you was in steam automobiles. (to Harold Hill)
  4. Harold Hill: answers: I was... till someone actually 'invented' one!
  5. Harold Hill: 'Brooklyn'? Marce, this isn't even *Dubuque*!
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (50 days ago)

• 1. Harold Hill: A man can't turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? 'Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man... only 500'?
  2. Mayor Shinn: It's as clear as a buttonhook in the well water!
  3. Mayor Shinn: You watch your phraseology!
  4. Mrs. Paroo: When a woman's got a husband, and you've got none, why should she take advice from you? Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare and all them other high-falutin' Greeks.
  5. Mrs. Paroo: I know all about your standards and if you don't mind my sayin' so there's not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunyan, Saint Pat, and Noah Webster you've concocted for yourself out of your Irish imagination, your Iowa stubbornness, and your li'berry full of books!
  6. Harold Hill: The sadder but wiser girl for me.
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (50 days ago)