Background
Carey, Ron was born on December 11, 1935 in Newark. Son of John and Fanny Cicenia.
Carey, Ron was born on December 11, 1935 in Newark. Son of John and Fanny Cicenia.
Bachelor of Arts, Seton Hall U., 1958.
The 5-foot 4-inch actor was best known for playing ambitious New York City Police Department Police Officer Carl Levitt on television"s Barney Miller, in which he was almost always surrounded by male actors (and sometimes female guest stars) who stood at least four inches taller. The series" stars (Hal Linden, Max Gail, Abe Vigoda, Ron Glass) all stood six feet or more. Carey appeared in the recurring role for the last six of the eight seasons of Barney Miller"s run.
He first appeared on the show as a criminal, Angelo Molinari (aka The Mole), in Season 2, Episode 22.
Carey was born Ronald Joseph Cicenia in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Fanny and John Cicenia, and was raised in an Italian American Catholic family. Carey did stand-up comedy in the 1960s, after earning a bachelor"s degree in communications from Seton Hall University in 1956.
His break came in 1966 when he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show and in 1967 he released a comedy album entitled The Slightly Irreverent Comedy of Ron Carey. He is most remembered for his role as the diligent but somewhat obsequious and passive-aggressive Officer Carl Levitt, which he played from 1976 to 1982 on the television series Barney Miller.
Carey died of a stroke at a Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, in January 2007.
From the mid-1970s on, Carey was a member of Mel Brooks" comedy troupe, appearing in featured roles in films such as High Anxiety, Silent Movie, and History of the World, Participant I. He also appeared in supporting roles in other films and on television, and was seen in scores of commercials, including some T-shirt ads for Hanes, and an ad for Nabisco"s snack cracker Better Cheddars where he sang.
Married Sharon Boyeronus, November 11, 1967.