Carney, youngest of six sons (Jack, Ned, Robert, Fred, Phil, and Art) was born in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Helen (née Farrell) and Edward Michael Carney, who was a newspaper man and publicist. His family was Irish American and Roman Catholic. He attended A. B. Davis High School. Carney was drafted into the United States Army as an infantryman and machine gun crewman during World War II. During the Battle of Normandy serving in the 28th Infantry Division, he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. As a result of the injury, his right leg was 3/4-inch shorter than his left.\n', '

Carney was a comic singer with the Horace Heidt orchestra, which was heard often on radio during the 1930s, notably on the hugely successful Pot o\' Gold, the first big-money giveaway show in 1939–41. Carney\'s film career began with an uncredited role in Pot o\' Gold (1941), the radio program\'s spin-off feature film, playing a member of Heidt\'s band. Carney, a gifted mimic, worked steadily in radio during the 1940s, playing character roles and impersonating celebrities such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. In 1941 he was the house comic on the big band remote series, Matinee at Meadowbrook.\n', '

One of his radio roles during the 1940s was the first Red Lantern on Land of the Lost. In 1943 he played Billy Oldham on Joe and Ethel Turp, based on Damon Runyon stories. He appeared on The Henry Morgan Show in 1946–47. He impersonated FDR on The March of Time and Dwight D. Eisenhower on Living 1948. In 1950–51 he played Montague\'s father on The Magnificent Montague. He was a supporting player on Casey, Crime Photographer and Gang Busters.\n', '

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