Jackie Gleason | |
|---|---|
 Gleason in the 1940s | |
| Born | Herbert Walton Gleason Jr. (1916-02-26)February 26, 1916 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | June 24, 1987(1987-06-24) (aged 71) Lauderhill, Florida, U.S. |
| Burial place | Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery Doral, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1935–1986 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingLinda Miller |
| Relatives | Jason Patric (grandson) |
Herbert John Gleason (bornHerbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987), known asJackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One".[1][2][3] He developed a style and characters from growing up inBrooklyn, New York, and was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city bus driver character Ralph Kramden in the television seriesThe Honeymooners. He also developedThe Jackie Gleason Show, which maintained high ratings from the mid-1950s through 1970. The series originated in New York City, but filming moved toMiami Beach, Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there.
Among his notable film roles wereMinnesota Fats in 1961'sThe Hustler (co-starring withPaul Newman) andBuford T. Justice in theSmokey and the Bandit trilogy from 1977 to 1983 (co-starringBurt Reynolds).
Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career during the 1950s and 1960s, producing a series of bestselling "mood music" albums. His first albumMusic for Lovers Only still holds the record for the longest stay on theBillboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums sold over a million copies each.[4] His output includes more than 20 singles, nearly 60 long-playing record albums, and more than 40 CDs.
During his career, Gleason received nomination for anAcademy Award, threeGolden Globe Awards, and fivePrimetime Emmy Awards.
Gleason was born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr. on February 26, 1916, at 364 Chauncey Street in the Stuyvesant Heights (nowBedford–Stuyvesant) section ofBrooklyn.[5] He was later baptized as 'John Herbert Gleason'[6] and grew up at 328 Chauncey Street, Apartment 1A (an address he later used for Ralph and Alice Kramden onThe Honeymooners).[7] His parents were Herbert Walton "Herb" Gleason (1883–1964), born in New York City to an Irish father and an American mother, and Mae Agnes "Maisie" (née Kelly; 1886–1935), an Irish immigrant fromFarranree, County Cork.[8][9][10][11] Gleason was the younger of two children; his elder brother, Clement, died from complications ofmeningitis at age 14 in 1919.[8]
Gleason remembered Clement and his father having "beautiful handwriting". He watched his father work at the family's kitchen table, writing insurance policies in the evenings. On the night of December 14, 1925, Gleason's father disposed of any family photos in which he appeared; just after noon on December 15, he collected his hat, coat, and paycheck, and permanently left his family and job at the insurance company. Once it became evident that he was not coming back, Mae went to work as a subway attendant for theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).[12]
After his father abandoned the family, young Gleason began hanging around with a local gang, hustling pool.[12] He attended P.S. 73 Elementary School in Brooklyn,John Adams High School in Queens, and Bushwick High School in Brooklyn. Gleason became interested in performing after being part of a class play; he quit school before graduating and got a job that paid $4 per night (equivalent to $97 in 2024) asmaster of ceremonies at a theater. Other jobs he held at that time included pool hall worker, stunt driver, andcarnival barker.[12][13] Gleason and his friends made the rounds of the local theaters; he put an act together with one of his friends, and the pair performed on an amateur night at the Halsey Theater, where Gleason replaced his friend Sammy Birch as master of ceremonies. He performed the same duties twice a week at the Folly Theater.[12]
Gleason was 19 when his mother died in 1935 from complications ofsepsis from a large neckcarbuncle that young Jackie had tried to lance.[6] He had nowhere to go and 36 cents to his name. The family of his first girlfriend, Julie Dennehy, offered to take him in; Gleason, however, was headstrong and insisted that he was going into the heart of the city.[12] His friend Birch made room for him in the hotel room he shared with another comedian.[14] Birch also told him of a week-long gig inReading, Pennsylvania, which would pay $19—more money than Gleason could imagine (equivalent to $440 in 2025). The booking agent advanced his bus fare for the trip against his salary, granting Gleason his first job as a professional comedian. Following this, he would always have regular work in small clubs.[15]
Gleason worked his way up to larger clubs in Manhattan, first Leon and Eddie's and then Jack White's madcap Club 18, where insulting the patrons was the order of the day. Gleason greeted noted skaterSonja Henie by handing her an ice cube and saying, "Okay, now do something."[16]
"He has an uncanny instinct for hauling willing laughs from paying guests," reported a newspaper columnist in 1941. "His unsmiling, watchful countenance reminds one of a portly Romeo being rebuffed. Audiences instinctively trust him for laughs and are rarely let down. The man can even insult people and make them like it."[17]
By age 24 Gleason began appearing in motion pictures, under the name Jackie C. Gleason (the middle initial standing for Clement, in tribute to his late brother).[18] When directorLloyd Bacon visited the Club 18, Gleason took him aside and asked for a chance in pictures. Gleason then took the nightclub floor and began heckling Bacon, which convinced the director to bring Gleason to Hollywood. Gleason signed withWarner Bros. (at $250 a week) for Bacon'sNavy Blues (1941) withAnn Sheridan andMartha Raye. Gleason's other major Warner credit was theHumphrey Bogart featureAll Through the Night (1942), which also featured a youngPhil Silvers. Warners cast Gleason in four more films of diminishing importance; one of them,Lady Gangster (1942) had Gleason as a getaway-car driver for a gang of bank bandits.
In the wake ofAbbott and Costello, most of the movie studios tried to imitate the team's military comedies. Warners loaned Gleason toColumbia Pictures, where he was paired with nightclub and movie comic Jack Durant for the Army comedyTramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942). Gleason accepted another loan-out toTwentieth Century-Fox, where Gleason playedGlenn Miller's bass player inOrchestra Wives (1942). He had a modest part as an actor's agent in the 1942Betty Grable–Harry James musicalSpringtime in the Rockies. Warners had no further plans for Gleason and did not renew his contract.
Gleason had supplemented his movie salary by signing a $150-a-week deal to appear atMaxie Rosenbloom's popular nightclub. "He was a smash hit," wrote biographer W. J. Weatherby, "but none of the Hollywood executives who congratulated him offered him a movie role worthy of his talent."[19] At the end of 1942, Gleason andLew Parker led a large cast of entertainers in the roadshow production ofOlsen and Johnson'sNew 1943Hellzapoppin.[20][21][22] He also became known for hosting all-night parties in his hotel suite; the hotel soundproofed his suite out of consideration for its other guests.[16] "Anyone who knew Jackie Gleason in the 1940s", wroteCBS historian Robert Metz, "would tell you The Fat Man would never make it. His pals at Lindy's watched him spend money as fast as he soaked up the booze."[citation needed]Rodney Dangerfield wrote that he witnessed Gleason purchasingmarijuana in the 1940s.[23]
Gleason was initially exempt from military service duringWorld War II because he was a father of two. However, in 1943, the U. S. Army started drafting men with children. When Gleason reported to his induction, doctors discovered that his broken left arm had healed crooked (the area between his thumb and forefinger was nerveless and numb), that apilonidal cyst existed at the end of hiscoccyx, and that he was 100 pounds overweight. Gleason was, therefore, classified 4-F and rejected for military service.[24]
During an acute employment slump in late 1943, Gleason took the only job he could get: a guest shot onNBC's radio showThe Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, a hot-jazz jam session. Gleason was that week's "intermission commentator" and delivered a comic monologue about a girl who ran off with a trumpet player. He collected $350 for the appearance. As W. J. Weatherby related, "There were so many phone calls praising it as the funniest program listeners had ever heard that Jackie was invited back. 'Wait till I'm that desperate again,' he said."[25]
Gleason's first significant recognition as an entertainer came onBroadway when he appeared in the hit musicalFollow the Girls (1944), starring singerGertrude Niesen and comic dancerTim Herbert.
Gleason's big break occurred in 1949 when, working nightclubs and earning the attention of New York City's inner circle, he landed work with the fledglingDuMont Television Network.[12] His first role with DuMont was the role of blunt but softhearted aircraft worker Chester A. Riley for the first television version of the radio comedyThe Life of Riley, replacingWilliam Bendix, who was unable to take the role due to contractual issues. Despite positive reviews, the show was canceled after one year, in part to DuMont's substantial disadvantages. (Bendix did resume the role beginning in 1953 for a more successful five-year series.)[26][16] As Gleason's time onThe Life of Riley ended in 1950, DuMont'sCavalcade of Stars variety hour in 1950 had an opening when that show's hostJerry Lester jumped toNBC to host the firstlate-night comedy/variety seriesBroadway Open House.[27] Comedy writerHarry Crane, whom Gleason knew from his days as a stand-up comedian in New York, recommended Gleason for the job.[28] The program initially had rotating hosts; Gleason was first offered two weeks at $750 per week. The offer was extended to four weeks when he responded that this arrangement would not be worth the train trip to New York. Gleason returned to New York for the show and soon became permanent host.[12] He framed the acts with splashy dance numbers, developed sketch characters he would refine over the next decade, and became enough of a presence that CBS wooed him to its network in 1952.
RenamedThe Jackie Gleason Show, the program became the country's second-highest-rated television show during the 1954–55 season.[29] Gleason amplified the show with even splashier opening dance numbers inspired byBusby Berkeley's screen dance routines and featuring the precision-choreographedJune Taylor Dancers. Following the dance performance, he would do an opening monologue. Then, accompanied by "a little travelin' music" ("That's a Plenty", aDixieland classic from 1914), he would shuffle toward the wings, clapping his hands and shouting, "And awaaay we go!" The phrase became one of his trademarks, along with "How sweet it is!" (which he used in reaction to almost anything).[29] Theona Bryant, a formerPowers Girl, became Gleason's "And awaaay we go" girl.Ray Bloch was Gleason's first music director, followed bySammy Spear, who stayed with him through the 1960s; Gleason often kidded with his music directors during his opening monologues. He continued developing comic characters, including:
In a 1985 interview Gleason explained how some of his invented comic characters were associated with his youth in Brooklyn. The Mr. Dennehy whom Joe the Bartender greets is a tribute to Gleason's first love, Julie Dennehy. The character of The Poor Soul was drawn from an assistant manager of an outdoor theater he frequented.[12] When one of Gleason's biographers likened him toCharlie Chaplin, Gleason asked, "Couldn't you compare me toBuster Keaton? Chaplin only plays one role, but Buster Keaton had a whole group of fantastic characters -- fantastic, but earthbound, too."[30]
Gleason disliked rehearsing. Usingphotographic memory[31] he read the script once, then watched a rehearsal with his co-stars and stand-in and shot the show later that day. When he made mistakes, he often blamed the cue cards.[32]
Gleason's most famous character by far was blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden. Drawn mainly from Gleason's harsh Brooklyn childhood, the Ralph Kramden sketches became known asThe Honeymooners. The show was based on Ralph's many get-rich-quick schemes, his ambition, his antics with his best friend and neighbor, scatterbrained sewer worker Ed Norton, and clashes with his sensible wife, Alice, who typically pulled Ralph's head down from the clouds.
Gleason developed catchphrases he used onThe Honeymooners, such as threats to Alice: "One of these days, Alice, pow! right in the kisser" and "Bang! Zoom! To the Moon, Alice, to the Moon!"
The Honeymooners originated from a sketch Gleason was developing with his show's writers. He said he had an idea he wanted to enlarge: a skit with a smart, quiet wife and her very vocal husband. He described that while the couple had their fights, underneath it all, they loved each other. Titles for the sketch were tossed around until someone came up withThe Honeymooners.[12]
The Honeymooners first appeared onCavalcade of Stars on October 5, 1951, with Carney in a guest appearance as a cop (Norton did not appear until a few episodes later) and character actressPert Kelton as Alice. Darker and fiercer than the milder later version withAudrey Meadows as Alice, the sketches proved popular with critics and viewers. In these early episodes with Kelton playing Alice, Gleason's frustrated bus driver character had a battleaxe of a wife, and the arguments between them were harrowingly realistic; when Meadows (who was 15 years younger than Kelton) took over the role after Kelton wasblacklisted, the tone of the episodes softened considerably.
When Gleason moved to CBS, Kelton was left behind; her name had been published inRed Channels, a book that listed and described reputed communists (and communist sympathizers) who worked in television and radio, and CBS did not want to hire her. Gleason reluctantly let her be removed from the cast; the reason was covered up by telling the media that she had "heart trouble". At first, Gleason turned down Meadows as Kelton's replacement. Meadows wrote in her memoir that after her unsuccessful audition, she frumped herself up and slipped back in to audition again to convince Gleason that she could handle the role of a frustrated (but loving) working-class wife. Rounding out the cast,Joyce Randolph played Trixie, Ed Norton's wife.Elaine Stritch had played the role of a tall and attractive blonde in the first sketch but was quickly replaced by Randolph. Comedy writerLeonard Stern always feltThe Honeymooners was more than sketch material and persuaded Gleason to make it into a full-hour-long episode.
In 1955 Gleason gambled on making it aseparate series entirely. The result was the "Classic 39" episodes, which finished 19th in the ratings during their only season.[29] They were filmed with a new DuMont process,Electronicam. Likekinescopes, it preserved a live performance on film; unlike kinescopes (which were screenshots), the film was of higher quality and comparable to a motion picture.[33] Using this higher-quality video process turned out to be Gleason's most prescient move. A decade later, he aired the half-hourHoneymooners in syndicated reruns that began to build a loyal and growing audience, making the show a televisionicon. Its popularity was such that in 2000, a life-sized statue of Jackie Gleason, in uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden, was installed outside thePort Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.
Gleason returned to a live show format for 1956–57, with short and long versions, including hour-long musicals. Ten years later, these musical presentations were reprised in color, with Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice and Trixie.
Audrey Meadows reappeared for one black-and-white remake of the '50s sketch "The Adoption," telecast January 8, 1966. Ten years later, she rejoined Gleason and Carney (with Jane Kean replacing Joyce Randolph) for several TV specials (one special from 1973 was shelved).
The Jackie Gleason Show ended in June 1957. In 1959, Gleason discussed the possibility of bringing backThe Honeymooners in new episodes; his dream was partially realized with a Kramden-Norton sketch on a CBS variety show in late 1960, and two more sketches on his hour-long CBS showThe American Scene Magazine in 1962.Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine ran from 1962-1966, andThe Jackie Gleason Show was reprised from 1966-1970. The Paley Center for Media considers all iterations as one series, running from 1952-1970.[34]
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career, producing a series of bestselling "mood music" albums withjazz overtones forCapitol Records. Gleason believed there was a ready market for romantic instrumentals. His goal was to make "musical wallpaper that should never be intrusive, but conducive".[35] He recalled seeingClark Gable play love scenes in movies; the romance was, in his words, "magnified a thousand percent" by background music. Gleason reasoned, "IfGable needs strings, what about some poor schmuck from Brooklyn?"[12]
Gleason's first album,Music for Lovers Only (Capitol, 1952), still holds the record for the longest stay on theBillboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums sold over a million copies each.[4] At one point, Gleason held the record for charting the most number-one albums on theBillboard 200 without charting any hits on the Top 40 of theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart.[36]
Gleason could not read or write music; he was said to have conceived melodies in his head and described them vocally to assistants who transcribed them into musical notes.[12] These included the well-remembered themes of bothThe Jackie Gleason Show ("Melancholy Serenade") andThe Honeymooners ("You're My Greatest Love").[13] In spite of period accounts establishing his direct involvement in musical production, varying opinions have appeared over the years as to how much credit Gleason should have received for the finished products. BiographerWilliam A. Henry wrote in his 1992 book,The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason, that beyond the possible conceptualizing of many of the song melodies, Gleason had no direct involvement (such as conducting) in making the recordings.Red Nichols, a jazz great who had fallen on hard times and led one of the group's recordings, was not paid as session-leader. Cornetist and trumpeterBobby Hackett soloed on several of Gleason's albums and was leader for seven of them. Asked late in life by musician–journalist Harry Currie in Toronto what Gleason really did at the recording sessions, Hackett replied, "He brought the checks".
But years earlier Hackett had glowingly told writer James Bacon:
Jackie knows a lot more about music than people give him credit for. I have seen him conduct a 60-piece orchestra and detect one discordant note in the brass section. He would immediately stop the music and locate the wrong note. It always amazed the professional musicians how a guy who technically did not know one note from another could do that. And he was never wrong.[37]
The composer and arrangerGeorge Williams has been cited in various biographies as having served asghostwriter for the majority of arrangements heard on many of Gleason's albums of the 1950s and 1960s.[3][38] Williams was not given credit for his work until the early 1960s, albeit only in small print on the backs ofalbum covers.[3][38]
Gleason's lead role in the musicalTake Me Along (1959–60) won him aTony Award forBest Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical.
In 1956 Gleason revived his original variety hour (includingThe Honeymooners), winning aPeabody Award.[39] He abandoned the show in 1957 when his ratings for the season came in at No. 29[29] and the network "suggested" he needed a break.[40] He returned in 1958 with a half-hour show featuringBuddy Hackett, which did not catch on.
In addition to his salary and royalties, CBS paid for Gleason'sPeekskill, New York, mansion "Round Rock Hill".[41] Set on six acres, the architecturally noteworthy complex included a round main home, guest house, and storage building. It took Gleason two years to design the house, which was completed in 1959.[42] Gleason sold the home when he relocated to Miami.[43][44]
In October 1960 Gleason and Carney briefly returned for aHoneymooners sketch on a TV special. His next foray into television was the game showYou're in the Picture, which was canceled after a disastrously received premiere episode but was followed the next week by a broadcast of Gleason's[45] humorous half-hour apology, which was much better appreciated.[13] For the rest of its scheduled run, the game show was replaced by a talk show namedThe Jackie Gleason Show.
In 1962 Gleason resurrected his variety show with more splashiness and a new hook: a fictitious general-interest magazine calledThe American Scene Magazine, through which Gleason trotted out his old characters in new scenarios, including two new Honeymooners sketches. He also added another catchphrase to the American vernacular, first uttered in the 1963 filmPapa's Delicate Condition: "How sweet it is!"The Jackie Gleason Show: The American Scene Magazine was a hit that continued for four seasons. Each show began with Gleason delivering a monologue and commenting on the attention-getting outfits of band leaderSammy Spear. Then the "magazine" features would be trotted out, from Hollywood gossip (reported by comedian Barbara Heller) to news flashes (played for laughs with a stock company of second bananas, chorus girls and dwarfs). ComedienneAlice Ghostley occasionally appeared as a downtrodden tenement resident sitting on her front step and listening to boorish boyfriend Gleason for several minutes. After the boyfriend took his leave, the smitten Ghostley would exclaim, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" Veteran comics Johnny Morgan, Sid Fields, and Hank Ladd were occasionally seen opposite Gleason in comedy sketches. Helen Curtis played alongside him as a singer and actress, delighting audiences with her 'Madame Plumpadore' sketches with 'Reginald Van Gleason.'
The final sketch was always set in Joe the Bartender's saloon with Joe singing "My Gal Sal" and greeting his regular customer, the unseen Mr. Dennehy (the TV audience, as Gleason spoke to the camera in this section). During the sketch Joe would tell Dennehy about an article he had read in the fictitiousAmerican Scene magazine, holding a copy across the bar. It had two covers: one featured the New York skyline and the other palm trees (after the show moved to Florida). Joe would bring outFrank Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim, who would regale Joe with the latest adventures of his neighborhood pals and sometimes show Joe his currentTop Cat comic book. Joe usually asked Crazy to sing—almost always a sentimental ballad in his fine, lilting baritone.
Gleason revivedThe Honeymooners—first withSue Ane Langdon as Alice and Patricia Wilson as Trixie for two episodes ofThe American Scene Magazine, then withSheila MacRae as Alice andJane Kean as Trixie for the 1966 series.[13] By 1964 Gleason had moved the production from New York toMiami Beach, Florida, reportedly because he liked year-round access to the golf course at the nearby Inverrary Country Club inLauderhill (where he built his final home). His closing line became, almost invariably, "As always, the Miami Beach audience is the greatest audience in the world!" In 1966, he abandoned theAmerican Scene Magazine format and converted the show into a standard variety hour with guest performers.
Gleason kicked off the 1966–1967 season with new, color episodes ofThe Honeymooners. Carney returned as Ed Norton, with MacRae as Alice and Kean as Trixie. The sketches were remakes of the 1957 world-tour episodes, in which Kramden and Norton win a slogan contest and take their wives to international destinations. Each of the nine episodes was a full-scale musical comedy, with Gleason and company performing original songs by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. Occasionally Gleason would devote the show to musicals with a single theme, such as college comedy or political satire, with the stars abandoning theirHoneymooners roles for different character roles. This was the show's format until its cancellation in 1970. (The exception was the 1968–1969 season, which had no hour-longHoneymooners episodes; that season,The Honeymooners was presented only in short sketches.) The musicals pushed Gleason back into the top five in ratings, but audiences soon began to decline. By its final season, Gleason's show was no longer in the top 25. In the last originalHoneymooners episode aired onCBS ("Operation Protest" on February 28, 1970), Ralph encounters the youth-protest movement of the late 1960s, a sign of changing times in both television and society.
Gleason (who had signed a deal in the 1950s that included a guaranteed $100,000 annual payment for 20 years, even if he never went on the air) wantedThe Honeymooners to be just a portion of his format, but CBS wanted another season of onlyThe Honeymooners. The network had canceled a mainstay variety show hosted byRed Skelton and would cancelThe Ed Sullivan Show in 1971 because they had become too expensive to produce and attracted, in the executives' opinion, too old an audience. Gleason simply stopped doing the show in 1970 and left CBS when his contract expired.
Gleason did twoJackie Gleason Show specials for CBS after giving up his regular show in the 1970s, includingHoneymooners segments and a Reginald Van Gleason III sketch in which the gregarious millionaire was portrayed as a comic drunk. When the CBS deal expired, Gleason signed withNBC. He later did a series ofHoneymooners specials forABC. Gleason hosted four ABC specials during the mid-1970s. Gleason and Carney also made a television movie,Izzy and Moe (1985), about an unusual pair of historic Federal prohibition agents in New York City who achieved an unbeatable arrest record with highly successful techniques including impersonations and humor, which aired on CBS in 1985.
In April 1974 Gleason revived several of his classic characters (including Ralph Kramden, Joe the Bartender and Reginald Van Gleason III) in a television special withJulie Andrews. In a song-and-dance routine, the two performed "Take Me Along" from Gleason's Broadway musical.
In 1985, three decades after the "Classic 39" began filming, Gleason revealed he had carefully preservedkinescopes of his live 1950s programs in a vault for future use (includingHoneymooners sketches withPert Kelton as Alice). These "lost episodes" (as they came to be called) were initially previewed at theMuseum of Television and Radio in New York City, aired on theShowtime cable network in 1985, and later were added to theHoneymooners syndication package.Some of them include earlier versions of plot lines later used in the 'classic 39' episodes. One (a Christmas episode duplicated several years later with Meadows as Alice) had all Gleason's best-known characters (Ralph Kramden, the Poor Soul, Rudy the Repairman, Reginald Van Gleason, Fenwick Babbitt and Joe the Bartender) featured in and outside of the Kramden apartment. The storyline involved a wild Christmas party hosted by Reginald Van Gleason up the block from the Kramdens' building at Joe the Bartender's place.
Gleason did not restrict his acting to comedic roles. He had also earned acclaim for live television drama performances in "The Laugh Maker" (1953) on CBS'sStudio One andWilliam Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life" (1958), which was produced as an episode of the anthology seriesPlayhouse 90.
He was nominated for aBest Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of pool shark Minnesota Fats inThe Hustler (1961), starringPaul Newman. Gleason made all his own trick pool shots.[46] In his 1985 appearance onThe Tonight Show, Gleason toldJohnny Carson that he had playedpool frequently since childhood, and drew from those experiences inThe Hustler. He was extremely well-received as a beleagueredboxing manager in the film version ofRod Serling'sRequiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Gleason played a world-weary army sergeant inSoldier in the Rain (1963), in which he received top billing overSteve McQueen.
Gleason wrote, produced and starred inGigot (1962), in which he played a poor, mute janitor who befriended and rescued a prostitute and her small daughter. It was a box office flop. But the film's script was adapted and produced as the television filmThe Wool Cap (2004), starringWilliam H. Macy in the role of the mute janitor; the television film received modestly good reviews.
Gleason played the lead in theOtto Preminger-directedSkidoo (1968), considered an all-star failure. In 1969William Friedkin wanted to cast Gleason as"Popeye" Doyle inThe French Connection (1971), and Gleason wanted the part, but the studio refused because of the poor reception ofGigot andSkidoo. Instead, Gleason wound up inHow to Commit Marriage (1969) withBob Hope, as well as the movie version ofWoody Allen's playDon't Drink the Water (1969). Both were unsuccessful.
Eight years passed before Gleason had another hit film. This role was the cantankerous and cursing Texas sheriffBuford T. Justice in the filmsSmokey and the Bandit (1977),Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) andSmokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). He co-starred withBurt Reynolds as the Bandit,Sally Field as Carrie (the Bandit's love interest), andJerry Reed as Cledus "Snowman" Snow, the Bandit's truck-driving partner. Former NFL linebackerMike Henry played his dimwitted son, Junior Justice. Gleason's gruff and frustrated demeanor and lines such as "I'm gonna barbecue yo' ass in molasses!" made the firstBandit movie a hit.
Years later, when interviewed byLarry King, Reynolds said he agreed to do the film only if the studio hired Jackie Gleason to play the part of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (the name of a real Florida highway patrolman, who knew Reynolds' father). Reynolds said that directorHal Needham gave Gleason free rein to ad-lib a great deal of his dialogue and make suggestions for the film; the scene at the "Choke and Puke" was Gleason's idea. Reynolds and Needham knew Gleason's comic talent would help make the film a success, and Gleason's characterization of Sheriff Justice strengthened the film's appeal to blue-collar audiences.
During the 1980s Gleason earned positive reviews playing oppositeLaurence Olivier in the HBO dramatic two-man special,Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (1983). He also gave a memorable performance as wealthy businessman U.S. Bates in the comedyThe Toy (1982) oppositeRichard Pryor. Although the film was critically panned, Gleason and Pryor's performances were praised. His last film performance was oppositeTom Hanks in theGarry Marshall-directedNothing in Common (1986), a success both critically and financially.
For many years Gleason traveled only by train; hisfear of flying arose from an incident in his early film career when he was flying back and forth to Los Angeles for relatively minor film work. During one flight to New York two of the plane's engines stopped, and the pilot executed an emergency landing inTulsa, Oklahoma.[47] Gleason borrowed $200 from a Tulsa hardware-store owner to purchase a train passage to New York.[47]
Gleason was interested in theparanormal, reading many books on the topic as well as books onparapsychology andUFOs.[48][3][38][49] During the 1950s he was a semi-regular guest on a paranormal-themed overnight radio show hosted byLong John Nebel, and he also wrote the introduction toDonald Bain's biography of Nebel.[50] After his death, his large book collection was donated to the library of theUniversity of Miami.[51]
According to writer Larry Holcombe, Gleason's interest in UFOs promptedPresident Richard Nixon to share information with him and to disclose some UFO data publicly.[52]
Gleason met dancer Genevieve Halford when they were working invaudeville and they were married on September 20, 1936.[15][53][54] Halford wanted a quiet home life but Gleason led an active nightlife.[15] Separated for the first time in 1941 and reconciled in 1948,[16] the couple had two daughters, Geraldine (b. 1940) andLinda (b. 1942).[55][56] Gleason and his wife informally separated again in 1951.[54] It was during this period that Gleason had a romantic relationship with his secretaryHoney Merrill, who had been a showgirl and Miss Hollywood of 1956.[57]
In early 1954 Gleason suffered a broken leg and ankle on-air during his television show. His injuries sidelined him for several weeks.[58][59] When Halford went to visit Gleason in the hospital, she discovered that Marilyn Taylor, a dancer from his television show, was also visiting him. Halford filed for a legal separation in April 1954.[56] A devoutCatholic, Halford did not grant Gleason a divorce until 1970.[60][61]
Gleason met his second wife, Beverly McKittrick, at a country club in 1968, where she worked as a secretary. Ten days after his divorce from Halford was final, Gleason and McKittrick were married inAshford, England on July 4, 1970.[62] The couple divorced in 1975.[63] Gleason reconnected with Taylor and married her in December 1975. They remained married until he died in 1987.[64][48][65][66]
Gleason's daughter Linda became an actress and married actor-playwrightJason Miller. Their son is actorJason Patric.[53]
As early as 1952, whenThe Jackie Gleason Show captured Saturday night for CBS, Gleason regularly smoked six packs of cigarettes a day.[67]
Gleason struggled with weight issues throughout much of his life, often weighing close to 300 pounds. His diet primarily consisted of red meat and rich desserts, with little to no vegetables. Additionally, Gleason did not engage in regular exercise and consumed alcohol excessively.[68]
InThe Golden Ham: A Candid Biography of Jackie Gleason, authorJim Bishop notes that Gleason had three separate wardrobes to accommodate his fluctuating weight, which varied between 185 and 285 pounds.[69]
In 1978 he suffered chest pains while touring in the lead role ofLarry Gelbart's playSly Fox and later underwent triple-bypass surgery.[70][71][72]
Gleason delivered a critically acclaimed performance as an infirm, acerbic, and somewhatArchie Bunker-like character in theTom Hanks comedy-dramaNothing in Common (1986), Gleason's final film role. During production he was diagnosed withcolon cancer, which had metastasized to his liver. He was also suffering fromphlebitis anddiabetes. He kept his medical problems private, although there were rumors that he was seriously ill.[73] On June 24, 1987, he died at age 71 in his Florida home.[74][75]
After a funeral mass at theCathedral of Saint Mary, Gleason was entombed in asarcophagus in a private outdoormausoleum at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami.[65] Gleason's sister-in-lawJune Taylor is buried to the left of the mausoleum, next to her husband and attorney, Sol Lerner.
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| Year | Titles (A-side, B-side) | Label and Number | Album (or EP-Extended Play) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | "What Is a Girl?"b/w "What Is a Boy?"Both sides with narratives by Gleason | Decca 27684 | Non-album tracks |
| 1952 | "Melancholy Serenade"b/w "You're Getting to Be a Habit" | Capitol F2361 | Melancholy Serenade (EP) |
| 1953 | "Alone Together"b/w "Body & Soul" | Capitol F2437 | Music For Lovers Only |
| 1953 | "My Funny Valentine"b/w "Love Is Here to Stay" | Capitol F2438 | |
| 1953 | "But Not for Me"b/w "Love" | Capitol F2439 | |
| 1953 | "I'm in the Mood for Love"b/w "I Only Have Eyes For You" | Capitol F2440 | |
| 1953 | "Terry's Theme fromLimelight"b/w "Peg O' My Heart" (fromMelancholy Serenade (EP)) | Capitol F2507 | Non-album track |
| 1953 | "White House Serenade"b/w "The President's Lady" (non-album track) | Capitol F2515 | Melancholy Serenade (EP) |
| 1953 | "Mystery Street"b/w "Golden Violins" | Capitol F2659 | Non-album tracks |
| 1955 | "I'll Never Be The Same"b/w "Rain" | Capitol F3092 | |
| 1955 | "The Band Played On"b/w "In the Good Old Summertime" | Capitol F3144 | |
| 1955 | "Autumn Leaves"b/w "Oo! What You Do to Me" | Capitol F3223 | Autumn Leaves (EP) |
| 1956 | "Capri in May"b/w "You're My Greatest Love" (fromMusic To Change Her Mind) | Capitol F3337 | Non-album track |
| 1957 | "To A Sleeping Beauty"b/w "Apology at Bedtime" | Capitol EAP871 | The Best of Jackie Gleason |
| 1958 | "Where Is She Now?"b/w "Just Only Yesterday" | Capitol F4062 | Non-album tracks |
| 1962 | "Melancholy Serenade"b/w "Apology at Bedtime" | Capitol 4704 | The Best of Jackie Gleason |
| 1962 | "Allo 'Allo 'Allo"b/w "Joi De Vivre" | Capitol 4800 | Jackie Gleason Presents His Original Music For "Gigot" |
| 1963 | "La La La La"b/w "It's Such A Happy Day" (fromSilk 'n' Brass) | Capitol 4933 | The Best of Jackie Gleason |
| 1964 | "Bird Brain"b/w "Soldier in the Rain" | Capitol 5131 | Non-album tracks |
| 1965 | "I Had But 50¢"b/w "Casey at the Bat"Shown as by "Reginald Van Gleason, III" | Capitol 5420 | |
| 1966 | "One of Those Songs"b/w "Love Theme From 'Madame X'" (fromMusic Around The World For Lovers Only) | Capitol 5584 | Silk 'n' Brass |
| No. | Year | Title | Label and Number | U.S. Billboard Best Selling Popular Albums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1952 | Music for Lovers Only | Capitol H352 (10") | No. 1 (153 total weeks within the Billboard Top Ten)[83] |
| 2 | 1953 | Lover's Rhapsody | Capitol H366 (10") | No. 1 |
| 3 | 1953 | Music to Make You Misty | Capitol H455 (10") | No. 1 |
| 4 | 1954 | Tawny | Capitol L471 (10") | No. 8 |
| 5 | 1954 | And Awaaay We Go! | Capitol H511 (10") | No. 1 |
| 6 | 1954 | Music, Martinis and Memories | Capitol W509 | No. 1 |
| 7 | 1954 | Melancholy Serenade | Capitol E532 (EP) | - |
| 8 | 1955 | Lonesome Echo | Capitol H627 (10") | No. 1 |
| 9 | 1955 | Music for Lovers Only | Capitol W352 | No. 7 |
| 10 | 1955 | Music to Make You Misty | Capitol W455 | No. 11 |
| 11 | 1955 | And Awaaay We Go! | Capitol W511 | No. 85 |
| 12 | 1955 | Jackie Gleason Plays Romantic Jazz | Capitol W568 | No. 2 |
| 13 | 1955 | Music to Remember Her | Capitol W570 | No. 5 |
| 14 | 1955 | Lonesome Echo | Capitol W627 | No. 1 |
| 15 | 1956 | Captain Gleason's Garden Band | Capitol E646 (EP) | - |
| 16 | 1956 | Music to Change Her Mind | Capitol W632 | No. 8 |
| 17 | 1956 | Night Winds | Capitol W717 | No. 10 |
| 18 | 1956 | Merry Christmas | Capitol W758 | No. 16 |
| 19 | 1957 | Music for the Love Hours | Capitol W816 | No. 13 |
| 20 | 1957 | Velvet Brass | Capitol SW/W859 | No. 16 |
| 21 | 1957 | "Oooo!" | Capitol SW/W905 | No. 14 |
| 22 | 1958 | The Torch with the Blue Flame | Capitol SW/W961 | No. 2 |
| 23 | 1958 | Riff Jazz | Capitol SW/W1020 | No. 27 |
| 24 | 1959 | Rebound | Capitol SW/W1075 | No. 18 |
| 25 | 1959 | That Moment | Capitol SW/W1147 | No. 36 |
| 26 | 1959 | Take Me Along (original cast) | RCA Victor LSO1050 | - |
| 27 | 1960 | Aphrodisia | Capitol SW/W1250 | No. 49 |
| 28 | 1960 | The Actor's Prayer (spoken by Gleason) | The Marsalin Institute | - |
| 29 | 1960 | Opiate D'Amour | Capitol SW/W1314 | No. 53 |
| 30 | 1961 | Lazy Lively Love | Capitol SW/W1439 | No. 57 |
| 31 | 1961 | The Gentle Touch | Capitol SW/W1519 | No. 62 |
| 32 | 1962 | A Lover's Portfolio (two records in a "briefcase") | Capitol SWBO/SBO1619 | No. 135 |
| 33 | 1962 | Love Embers and Flame | Capitol SW/W1689 | No. 103 |
| 34 | 1963 | Gigot (soundtrack) | Capitol SW/W1754 | - |
| 35 | 1963 | Champagne, Candlelight and Kisses | Capitol SW/W1830 | No. 97 |
| 36 | 1963 | Movie Themes – For Lovers Only | Capitol SW/W1877 | No. 82 |
| 37 | 1963 | Today's Romantic Hits – For Lovers Only | Capitol SW/W1978 | No. 115 |
| 38 | 1964 | Lover's Portfolio Vol. 1 (Music for Sippin' – Music for Dancin') | Capitol SW/W1979 | No. 128 |
| 39 | 1964 | Lover's Portfolio Vol. 2 (Music for Listenin' – Music for Lovin') | Capitol SW/W1980 | No. 137 |
| 40 | 1964 | Today's Romantic Hits – For Lovers Only Vol. 2 | Capitol SW/W2056 | No. 82 |
| 41 | 1965 | Last Dance – For Lover's Only | Capitol SW/W2144 | No. 131 |
| 42 | 1965 | Silk 'n' Brass | Capitol SW/W2409 | No. 141 |
| 43 | 1966 | Music from Around the World – For Lovers Only | Capitol SW/W2471 | No. 102 |
| 44 | 1966 | How Sweet It Is for Lovers | Capitol SW/W2582 | No. 71 |
| 45 | 1967 | A Taste of Brass – For Lovers Only | Capitol SW/W2684 | No. 200 |
| 46 | 1967 | 'Tis the Season | Capitol ST/T2791 | No. 37 |
| 47 | 1967 | The Best of Jackie Gleason | Capitol SW/W2796 | - |
| 48 | 1967 | The Best of Jackie Gleason | Capitol Record Club SWAO-90601 | - |
| 49 | 1968 | Doublin' in Brass | Capitol SW/W2880 | No. 165 |
| 50 | 1969 | The Best of Jackie Gleason, vol. 2 | Capitol SKAO-146 | - |
| 51 | 1969 | The Now Sound | Capitol SW/W2935 | No. 200 |
| 52 | 1969 | Irving Berlin's Music – For Lovers Only | Capitol SW106 | - |
| 53 | 1969 | Close Up | Capitol SW255 | No. 192 |
| 54 | 1969 | All I Want for Christmas | Capitol ST346 | No. 13 |
| 55 | 1970 | Softly | Capitol SL6664 | - |
| 56 | 1970 | Romeo and Juliet – A Theme for Lovers | Capitol ST398 | - |
| 57 | 1971 | Come Saturday Morning | Capitol ST480 | - |
| 58 | 1972 | Words of Love | Capitol ST693 | - |
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Lush Moods | Pair |
| 1987 | Music, Martinis and Memories | Capitol |
| 1987 | Intimate Music for Lovers | CEMA Special Markets |
| 1990 | Merry Christmas | Capitol |
| 1991 | Night Winds /Music to Make You Misty | Capitol |
| 1993 | The Best of Jackie Gleason | Curb |
| 1994 | Shangri-La | Pair |
| 1995 | Merry Christmas | Razor & Tie |
| 1995 | Body & Soul | Pair |
| 1995 | 22 Melancholy Serenades | CEMA Special Markets |
| 1996 | And Awaaay We Go | Scamp |
| 1996 | How Sweet It Is! The Velvet Brass Collection | Razor & Tie |
| 1996 | Romantic Moods of Jackie Gleason (Two Disc Set) | EMI Capitol |
| 1996 | Thinking of You | CEMA Special Markets |
| 1996 | 'Tis the Season | Capitol |
| 1996 | The Best of Jackie Gleason | Collectibles |
| 1999 | Music for Lovers Only /Music to Make You Misty | Collector's Choice |
| 2000 | Best of Jackie Gleason | EMI Special Products |
| 2000 | Tawny /Music, Martinis and Memories | Collector's Choice |
| 2000 | Music, Moonlight and Memories (Three Disc Set) | Reader's Digest |
| 2001 | Lonesome Echo | Collector's Choice |
| 2001 | Music to Remember Her | Collector's Choice |
| 2001 | Lover's Rhapsody /And Awaaay We Go | Collector's Choice |
| 2001 | Snowfall | EMI |
| 2002 | For Lovers Only: 36 All Time Greatest Hits (Three disc set) | Timeless Media Group |
| 2003 | Plays Romantic Jazz | Collector's Choice |
| 2004 | Music to Change Her Mind | Collector's Choice |
| 2005 | Night Winds | Collector's Choice |
| 2006 | A Taste of Brass &Doublin' in Brass | Capitol |
| 2007 | Complete Bobby Hackett Sessions (Four Disc Set) | Fine & Mellow |
| 2009 | Take Me Along (1959 Original Broadway Cast) | DRG |
| 2009 | 'Tis the Season | Capitol |
| 2011 | That Moment /Opiate D'Amour | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2011 | The Torch with the Blue Flame /The Best of 'Oooo!' | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2012 | Music For Lovers Only | Real Gone Music |
| 2012 | Movie Themes - For Lovers Only /The Last Dance - For Lovers Only | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2012 | Romeo and Juliet - A Theme for Lovers /Music Around the World - For Lovers Only | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2012 | Gigot | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2012 | Champagne, Candlelight and Kisses /Love Embers and Flame | Dutton Vocalion |
| 2012 | 'Tis the Season /Merry Christmas | Relayer Records |
Jackie Gleason needed no help to portray the real-life Minnesota Fats, the cutthroat pool shark he portrayed in the 1961 film who toyed with opponents before making decisive trick shots to collect from local hustlers.
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