Biography
Pert Kelton (14 October 1907 – 30 October 1968) was an American stage, film, radio and television actress. Born in Great Falls, Montana, she began performing in vaudeville with her parents as part of the act 'The Three Keltons' and made her Broadway debut in 1925 in Jerome Kern's Sunny. She appeared in numerous Broadway productions over four decades and in more than twenty Hollywood films during the 1930s, often in comedic supporting roles.
Kelton created the role of Mrs. Paroo in the original 1957 Broadway production of The Music Man and reprised it in the 1962 film adaptation. She was the original Alice Kramden in the early The Honeymooners sketches with Jackie Gleason in the 1950s. Her career was interrupted by blacklisting in the early 1950s. She received Tony Award nominations for featured performances in Greenwillow (1960) and Spofford (1968). Kelton was married to actor Ralph Bell and had two children.
