Comic actor Ron Carey dead at 71

Ron Carey was the little guy who played cocky Police Officer Carl Levitt on Barney Miller.

The 5-foot-4 Carey died Tuesday of complications from a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a nephew, Michael Ciccolini, said.

Carey played a plainclothes cop who would do a lot of apple-polishing... or should I say brass-kissing!

He was also bad guy Joe Dalton in the Italian-filmed 1993 TV series Lucky Luke, based on the hugely successful European series of comic books by Rene Goscinny.

Carey appeared in 15 movies, including High Anxiety (1977) and History of the World: Part I (1981), both with Mel Brooks. Other films included Silent Movie, Fatso and The Out of Towners.

Born on December 11, 1935 in Newark, New Jersey (his accent really showed), he began doing standup comedy in New York. In 1966, he appeared on The Merv Griffin Show, and his career got going from there. He later appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show, The Tonight Show and Toast of the Town (with Ed Sullivan).

Carey also did an LP of standup comedy. An Italian Catholic, he once considered going into the priesthood. He played Father Paglia in Have Faith, a sitcom about inner-city priests, which ran for half a season in 1989.

Ron Carey is survived by wife Sharon, brother Jimmy Cicenia and sister-in-law Dolores.

A memorial is set for Tuesday at Christ the King Church in Los Angeles.