Like any comedic star, the early days of Joyce Randolph's career were full of hard work and plenty of long nights.

Born in Detroit, the Honeymooners actor had joined a touring company of theatre performers before she made the leap and moved to New York City.

"I already had an Equity card from doing a touring revival of Stage Door," said Randolph during an interview with the Daily News. "And after that show, another actress named Marie and I took an overnight train to New York for $18.75, booked into the Ashley Hotel on W. 47th St., and started making the rounds."

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For Randolph, success wasn't immediate. The actor cut her teeth in the entertainment industry in guest appearances.

"I started going out on auditions for TV," said the actor. "All the half-hour murder mysteries were here, and I soon became the most murdered actress on television."

Funnily enough, it was a brief appearance in a commercial that alerted Jackie Gleason to Randolph's talent.

"I had done a breath mint commercial and got a call that Jackie wanted that serious actor to audition for a skit called The Honeymooners and to play the sewer worker's wife," said Randolph during an interview with the Bristol Herald Courier. "It didn't pay much, and my character was less developed than the other three, but I was happy to have a job."

Randolph's instinct to take the role turned out to be fortuitous for her career, and today she and the rest of the cast of The Honeymooners are enshrined in television history.