Editing Harry and Tonto (section)

==Production==
Mazursky wanted [[James Cagney]] for the role of Harry, but Cagney declined the offer, as did [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Cary Grant]]. Mazursky then saw Art Carney in a play and approached him. Carney initially declined as well, in part because he was about 15 years younger than Harry, but he eventually agreed.<ref name="afi">{{cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/55233-HARRY-AND-TONTO?sid=d67e7904-7a08-4f0a-a4b1-56b0bdbcce03&sr=3.0097103&cp=1&pos=0#1 |title=Harry and Tonto - History |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-date=November 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124105907/http://catalog.afi.com/Film/55233-HARRY-AND-TONTO?sid=d67e7904-7a08-4f0a-a4b1-56b0bdbcce03&sr=3.0097103&cp=1&pos=0#1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cast as an elderly man, Carney, who was born in 1918, was actually only 13 years older than the actors who played his sons, [[Larry Hagman]] and [[Phil Bruns]], and 14 years older than [[Ellen Burstyn]], who played his daughter. Thanks to the makeup of Emmy-winning artist Bob O'Bradovich, Carney was transformed into the elderly Harry.

Carney did not like cats prior to his work in ''Harry and Tonto'', but he established a good relationship with the cats in the film.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917351,00.html | title = Show Business: Art Who? | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = April 21, 1975 | access-date = October 29, 2007 | archive-date = January 22, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110122073428/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917351,00.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> After filming, the animal wrangler offered Mazursky one of the two cats who played Tonto, but Mazursky declined because his wife had become allergic to them.

Muriel Beerman, who plays the cab driver, was a talkative part-time taxi driver who had driven Mazursky to the casting office one day.