Jackie Gleason

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Biography

Jackie Gleason (February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character The Honeymooners#Ralph Kramden|Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners . His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The Hustler (film)|The Hustler (1961) starring Paul Newman , and as Buford T. Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit movie series.

Early life

Gleason was born at 364 Chauncey Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn , New York.Staff. , News & Record (Greensboro) , September 19, 1995. Accessed June 8, 2009. He grew up nearby at 328 Chauncey Street, an address that he later used as the address for Ralph and Alice Kramden on his show The Honeymooners . Originally named Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , he was baptized as John Herbert Gleason . His parents were Mae "Maisie" ( Married and maiden names|née Kelly), a subway change-booth attendant, and Herbert John "Herb" Gleason, an insurance auditor. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/25/obituaries/jackie-gleason-dies-of-cancer-comedian-and-actor-was-71.html His mother was from Farranree, Cork (city)|Cork , Ireland. Gleason was one of their two children. Gleason's brother, Clemence, died of spinal meningitis at age 14, and his father abandoned the family.

He remembered his father as having "beautiful handwriting", as Herbert Gleason often worked at the family's kitchen table writing policies in the evenings. The night before his disappearance, Gleason's father disposed of any family photos he was pictured in; just after noon on December 15, 1925, Herbert Gleason collected his hat, coat and paycheck, leaving the insurance company and his family for good. When it was evident he was not coming back, Mae went to work taking change for the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).

After his father left, young Gleason started hanging around on the streets with a local gang and hustling pool. He attended elementary school at P.S. 73 in Brooklyn and attended but did not graduate from John Adams High School (New York City)|John Adams High School in Queens and Bushwick High School in Brooklyn. Gleason became interested in performing after being part of a class play; when he left school he got a job as an MC of a theater. The job paid $4 per night. Other jobs of his included working in a pool hall, stunt diver, and carnival barker. 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 for Amateur Night at the Halsey Theater, where Gleason replaced his friend, Sammy Birch, as the master of ceremonies. He was also offered the same work two nights a week at the Folly Theater.

Gleason was raised by his mother, who died when he was 19. When she died in 1935, young Gleason had nowhere to go and less than 40 cents to his name. The family of his first girlfriend, Julie Dennehy, offered to take him in but Gleason was headstrong and insisted he was going into the heart of the city. His friend, Sammy Birch, made room for him in the hotel room he shared with another comedian. Birch also told him of a one week job in Reading, Pennsylvania that would pay $19; it was more money than Gleason could imagine. The booker advanced him bus fare for the trip against his salary; this was Gleason's first job as a professional comedian. He had regular work in a variety of small clubs after that.

Career

Gleason worked his way up to a job at New York's Club 18, where insulting its patrons was the order of the day. Skater Sonja Henie was greeted by Gleason's handing her an ice cube and saying, "Okay, now do something." It was here where Jack Warner first saw Gleason, signing him to a film contract for $250 per week. By age 24, Gleason was appearing in movies, first at Warner Brothers as Jackie C. Gleason in such films as Navy Blues (1941) with Ann Sheridan and Martha Raye and All Through the Night (film)|All Through the Night (1941) with Humphrey Bogart ; then at Columbia Pictures for the B military comedy Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942 film)|Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942); and finally, at Twentieth Century-Fox , where Gleason played the Glenn Miller band's bassist in Orchestra Wives (1942). Gleason also had a small part as the soda shop clerk in Larceny, Inc. (1942) with Edward G. Robinson , and a modest part as "Commissioner" in the 1942 Betty Grable / Harry James musical, Springtime in the Rockies .

Gleason, however, did not make a strong impression in Hollywood at first. At the same time, he developed a nightclub act that included both comedy and music. He also became somewhat known for hosting all-night parties at his hotel suite; the hotel soundproofed his suite out of consideration for its other guests. "Anyone who knew Jackie Gleason in the 1940s," wrote CBS 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." Gleason's first recognition as a significant entertainer finally came on Broadway theatre|Broadway , when he appeared in the hit musical Follow the Girls (1944). While working in films in California, Gleason also spent some time working at former boxer Maxie Rosenbloom 's nightclub called Slapsy Maxie's on Wilshire.

Entering television

Gleason's big break arrived in 1949, when he landed the role of blunt but softhearted aircraft worker Chester A. Riley for the first television version of the radio hit The Life of Riley . ( William Bendix originated the role on radio, but was unable to take the television role at first because of film commitments.) The show received modest ratings but positive reviews; however, Gleason left the show after the first year, with Bendix now able to assume the role on television. The Life of Riley became a television hit in the early 1950s. By that time, however, Gleason was long gone from the show, and his nightclub act had begun receiving attention from New York City's inner circle and the small DuMont Television Network . Gleason was working at Slapsy Maxie's when the offer was made.
Gleason was hired to host DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars variety hour in 1950. The program initially had rotating hosts; the offer first made to Gleason was for two weeks at $750 per week. When Gleason said he did not consider that worth traveling to New York by train for, the offer was extended to four weeks. Gleason then boarded the train back to New York. He framed the show with splashy dance numbers, developed sketch characters he would refine over the next decade, and became enough of a presence that CBS wooed and won him over to its network in 1952.

Renamed The Jackie Gleason Show , it became the country's second-highest-rated television show during the 1954–1955 season. Gleason amplified the show with even splashier opening dance numbers, inspired by Busby Berkeley screen dance routines and featuring the precision- choreographed June Taylor Dancers . Following the dance performance, he would do an opening monologue. Then, accompanied by "a little travelin' music" (" That's a Plenty (song)|That's a Plenty ", a Dixieland classic from 1914), he would shuffle toward the wing, clapping his hands inversely and hollering, "And awaaay we go!" The phrase became one of his trademarks along with "How Sweet It Is!", used in reaction to almost anything at all. Theona Bryant, a former Powers Model, became Gleason's "And awaaay we go," girl logo. Ray Bloch was Gleason's first music director, followed by Sammy Spear , who stayed with Gleason through the 1960s; Gleason often kidded both men during his opening monologues. Gleason continued developing comic characters, including the following:

Reginald Van Gleason III , the top-hatted millionaire with a taste for both the good life and the wild invention or fantasy.

Boisterous, boorish Rudy the Repairman .

Gregarious Joe the Bartender , with friendly words for the never-seen Mr. Dennehy, who always entered his bar first.

The Poor Soul , a silent character who could and often did come to grief in the least-expected places or show sweet gratitude at things no more complicated than being allowed to share a newspaper on a subway.

Rum Dum , a character with a brush-like mustache who often stumbled around as if he were drunk and confused.

Fenwick Babbitt , a friendly but addle-headed young man usually depicted working (and invariably failing) at various jobs.

Charlie Bratton , a loudmouth who frequently picked on the mild-mannered Clem Finch (portrayed by Art Carney ).

The Bachelor, a silent character (accompanied by the song "Somebody Loves Me") doing everyday things in an unusually lazy or makeshift way.

In a 1985 interview, Gleason related the connection of some of his characters to his youth in Brooklyn. The Mr. Dennehy that 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.

The Honeymooners

By far, Gleason's most popular character was the blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden . Largely drawn from Gleason's harsh Brooklyn childhood, these sketches became known as The Honeymooners and customarily centered on Ralph's incessant get-rich-quick schemes, the tensions between his ambitiousness and his friend Norton's scatterbrained aid and comfort, and the inevitable clash when his sensible wife Alice tried pulling her husband's head back down from the clouds. The show also became the birthplace of notable comments invented by Gleason such as "one of these days Alice, pow, right in the kisser". The Honeymooners came about when Gleason was trying to write a sketch with his show's writers. Gleason told them he had an idea he had always wanted to work out: a skit with a smart, quiet wife and her very vocal husband. He went on to describe that the couple did have their fights but underneath it all, they both loved each other. Titles for the sketch were tossed around until someone came up with The Honeymooners .

The Honeymooners first appeared on Cavalcade of Stars on October 5, 1951, with Carney as Norton and the character actress Pert Kelton as Alice. Darker and fiercer than they later became with Audrey Meadows as Alice, the sketches proved popular with critics and viewers. As Kramden, Gleason played a frustrated bus driver with a battle-ax wife in harrowingly realistic arguments; when Meadows (who was 15 years younger than Kelton) took over the role after Kelton was Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted , the tone softened considerably. In fact, early sketches come as something of a shock to some modern critics.

When Gleason moved to CBS, Kelton was not part of the move, since her name had turned up in Red Channels , the book that listed and described reputed Communists and/or Communist sympathizers in television and radio. Gleason reluctantly let her leave the cast, with a cover story for the media that she had "heart trouble". He also turned down Meadows as Kelton's replacement, at least at first. Meadows wrote in her memoir that she slipped back to audition again and frumped herself up to convince Gleason that she could handle the role of a frustrated but loving working-class wife. Rounding out the cast with an understated but effective role, Joyce Randolph played Trixie Norton. Elaine Stritch had played the role as a tall and attractive blonde in the first sketch, but she was quickly replaced by Randolph.

The Honeymooners sketches proved popular enough that Gleason gambled on making it a The Honeymooners|separate series entirely in 1955. These are the so-called Classic 39 episodes, which finished 19th in the ratings for their only season. However, they were filmed with a new DuMont process, Electronicam ; like kinescopes , it preserved the live performance on film, but in an improvement on kinescopes, it resulted in first-generation quality comparable to a motion picture. That turned out to be the most prescient move the show made, since – a decade after they first aired – the half-hour Honeymooners in syndicated reruns started to build a loyal and growing audience that made the show a television Pop icon|icon . Its popularity was such that even today, a life-size statue of Jackie Gleason, in full uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden , stands outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.

Musical work

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gleason enjoyed a secondary music career, lending his name to a series of best-selling " Beautiful music|mood music " albums with jazz overtones for Capitol Records . Gleason felt there was a ready market for romantic instrumentals. His goal was to make "musical wallpaper that should never be intrusive, but conducive". http://music.aol.com/album/the-romantic-moods-of-jackie-gleason/191846 He recalled seeing Clark Gable play love scenes in movies, and the romance was, in his words, "magnified a thousand percent" by background music. Gleason reasoned, "If Gable needs music, a guy in Brooklyn must be desperate! "

Gleason's first album, Music for Lovers Only , still holds the record for the album staying the longest in the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums all sold over one million copies. Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Albums, 6th edition , ISBN 0-89820-166-7

Gleason could not read or write music in a conventional sense; he was said to have conceived melodies in his head and described them vocally to assistants. These included the well-remembered themes of both The Jackie Gleason Show ("Melancholy Serenade") and The Honeymooners ("You're My Greatest Love"). There has been some controversy over the years as to how much credit Gleason should have received for the finished products; Gleason biographer William A. Henry III wrote in his 1992 book The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason that beyond the possible conceptualizing of many of the songs, Gleason had no direct involvement (such as conducting) in the making of these recordings. Red Nichols , a jazz great who had fallen on hard times and led one of the group's recordings, did not even get session-leader pay from Gleason. Legendary jazz cornetist/trumpeter Bobby Hackett, who soloed on the albums and was the leader for most, when asked by musician/journalist Harry Currie in Toronto just weeks before Hackett's death what Gleason really did at the recording sessions, Hackett replied "He brought the cheques." Nearly all of Gleason's albums are still available, and have been re-released by Capitol Records onto compact disc.

He also took the role of a lead performer in the musical Take Me Along , which ran from 1959 to 1960; he won a Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical|Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical .

Return to television

Gleason restored his original variety hour, including The Honeymooners, in 1956, winning a Peabody Award for the show in that year. He abandoned the show in 1957 when his ratings for the season came in at #29 and the network "suggested" he needed a break. He returned in 1958 with a half-hour show that featured Buddy Hackett . However, this version of the Gleason show did not catch on. One of the "perks" Gleason received from CBS was his network's picking up the tab for his Peekskill, New York "Round Rock Hill" mansion. Set on top of a hill complete with six acres of grounds, the site for the circular dream home included a guest house and a storage building, which was also round. Gleason planned the home for two years; it was completed in 1959. Gleason sold the home when he permanently relocated to Miami.

His next foray into television was with a game show, '' You're in the Picture '', which survived its disastrous premiere episode only because of Gleason's now-legendary humorous on-the-air apology in the following week's time slot. For the rest of the scheduled run, the program became a talk show that was once again named The Jackie Gleason Show .

In 1962, he resurrected his variety show with more splashiness and a new hook— a fictitious general-interest magazine called The American Scene Magazine , through whose format Gleason trotted out his old characters in new scenarios. He also added another catchphrase to the American vernacular, first uttered in the 1963 film '' Papa's Delicate Condition : "How sweet it is!"

The Jackie Gleason Show: The American Scene Magazine was a hit and continued in this format for four seasons. Each show began with Gleason delivering a monologue and commenting on the loud outfits of band leader Sammy Spear. Then the "magazine" features would be trotted out, from Hollywood gossip (reported by comedienne Barbara Heller) to news flashes (played for laughs with a stock company of second bananas, chorus girls, and midgets). Comedienne Alice 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.
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 (actually the TV audience, with Gleason speaking to the camera). During the sketch, Joe the Bartender would tell Dennehy about an article he read in the fictitious "American 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 was moved to Florida in 1964). Then, Joe would bring out Frank Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim, who would regale Joe with the latest adventures of his neighborhood pals and sometimes showed Joe his current Top Cat comic book. Joe usually asked Crazy to sing, almost always a sentimental ballad sung in a lilting baritone.

Gleason also revived The Honeymooners , first with Sue Ane Langdon and then with Sheila MacRae as Alice and with Jane Kean as Trixie. By 1964, Gleason had moved the production from New York to Miami Beach, Florida , reportedly because he liked the year-round access to the golf course at the nearby Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, Florida|Lauderhill , Florida, 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 finally abandoned the American Scene Magazine format and converted the show into a standard variety hour with guest performers.

Gleason kicked off the 1966–67 season with new, color episodes of The Honeymooners. Carney returned as Ed Norton, with MacRae as Alice and Kean as Trixie. The stories were remakes of the 1950s "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, the Gleason hour would be devoted to musicals with a single theme (a college comedy, a political satire, etc.), with the stars abandoning their Honeymooners roles for different character roles.

This was the format of the show until its cancellation in 1970, except for the 1968–69 season, which had no hour-long Honeymooners episodes. In that season, The Honeymooners was presented only in short sketches.

The musicals pushed Gleason back into the Top Five in the TV ratings, but audiences soon began to decline. By its final season, Gleason's show was no longer in the top 25. In the last original Honeymooners episode aired on CBS , "Operation Protest," Ralph encounters the youth-protest movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, a sign of changing times in television as well as in 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, wanted The Honeymooners to be just a portion of his format, but CBS wanted another season of nothing but The Honeymooners . The network had just canceled mainstay variety shows hosted by Red Skelton and Ed Sullivan because they had become too expensive to produce and attracted, in the executives' opinion, too old an audience. Gleason simply stopped doing the show by 1970 and finally left CBS when his contract expired.

Revival of The Honeymooners

Gleason did two Jackie Gleason Show specials for CBS after giving up his regular show in the 1970s, including "Honeymooners segments" and a Reginald Van Gleason III sketch in which the gregarious millionaire was shown as a clinical alcoholic. When the CBS deal expired, Gleason signed with NBC , but ideas reportedly came and went before he ended up doing a series of Honeymooners specials for American Broadcasting Company|ABC . Gleason helmed four of these ABC specials during the mid-1970s. Gleason and Carney also made a television movie, Izzy and Moe , which aired on CBS in 1985.

In April 1974, Gleason revived several classic characters, including Ralph Kramden, Joe the Bartender, and Reginald Van Gleason III, in a television special with Julie Andrews . In one 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 preserved kinescopes of his live 1950s programs in a vault for future use—including Honeymooners sketches with Pert Kelton as Alice. These "Lost Episodes," as they came to be called, were initially previewed at the The Paley Center for Media|Museum of Television and Radio in New York City, then first aired on the Showtime (TV network)|Showtime cable network in 1985, and were later added to the Honeymooners syndication package with the "Classic 39" episodes for broadcast on local TV stations. They were also released on home video.

Some of these include earlier versions of exactly the same plotlines later copied for the Classic 39 episodes. One of them, a Christmas holiday episode that was duplicated several years later with Meadows as Alice, delivered every one of Gleason's best-known characters – Ralph Kramden, the Poor Soul, Rudy the Repairman, Reginald Van Gleason, Fenwick Babbitt, and Joe the Bartender – in and out of the Kramden apartment, the storyline hooking around a wild Christmas party being thrown up the block from the Kramdens' building by Reginald Van Gleason at Joe the Bartender's place.

Dramatic roles

Gleason's acting was not restricted to comedic roles. He had also earned acclaim for live television drama performances in The Laugh Maker (1953) on CBS's Studio One (TV series)|Studio One ; and in William Saroyan 's The Time of Your Life (TV film)|The Time of Your Life (1958), which appeared as an episode of Playhouse 90 , a television anthology series .

He was nominated for a Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of Minnesota Fats in The Hustler (1961). (In his 1985 appearance on The Tonight Show , Gleason told Johnny Carson that he had played Pool (cue sports)|pool frequently since childhood, utilizing those experiences in The Hustler .) He was also well-received as a beleaguered boxing manager in the movie version of Rod Serling 's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Gleason also played a world-weary Army sergeant, in Soldier in the Rain (1963).

He wrote, produced, and starred in Gigot (film)|Gigot (1962), a notorious box-office disaster, in which he plays a poor, mute janitor who befriends and rescues a prostitute and her small daughter. The film's script formed the basis for the television film The Wool Cap (2004) starring William H. Macy in the role of the mute janitor; the television film received modestly good reviews.

Gleason played the lead in the Otto Preminger all-star flop, Skidoo (film)|Skidoo (1968). In 1969, William Friedkin wanted to cast Gleason as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle|"Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (film)|The French Connection (1971) but between Gigot and Skidoo , the studio refused to offer Gleason the lead in the film, even though he wanted to play it. Instead, Gleason wound up in How to Commit Marriage (1969) with Bob Hope and the movie version of Woody Allen 's play '' Don't Drink the Water (1969 film)|Don't Drink the Water (1969), both flops.

More than a decade passed before Gleason had another hit film. This role was as comedic and cursing Texas sheriff Buford T. Justice in the films Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). In these films, he co-starred with Burt Reynolds as the Bandit, Sally Field as Carrie (Bandit's love interest), Jerry Reed as Cledus (Snowman) Snow, Bandit's truck-driving partner off to bring back Coor's beer, clam chowder (II), etc. Former NFL linebacker and actor Mike Henry (football)|Mike Henry played his not-so-bright son, Junior Justice. Gleason's gruff and frustrated demeanor, along with a few classic lines, such as "I'm gonna barbecue yo' ass in molasses!" after a trucker tore the driver's door off his parked sheriff's car, had audiences howling in the theaters, and truly made the first "Bandit" movie a major hit.

Years later, when Reynolds was interviewed by Larry King , Reynolds said that he agreed to do the movie only if they would hire Jackie Gleason to play the part of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, which is the name of a real Florida highway patrolman who knew Reynolds' father. That interview also revealed that director Hal Needham gave Gleason free rein to ad-lib a great deal of his dialog and make suggestions for the film. For example, the scene at the "Choke and Puke" was Gleason's idea. Reynolds and Needham knew the comic brilliance of Gleason would help make the film a success, and Gleason's characterization of Sheriff Justice helped them connect the film with mostly blue-collar audiences.

In the 1980s, Gleason earned positive reviews playing opposite Laurence 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 comedy The Toy (1982 film)|The Toy (1982), opposite Richard Pryor . Although the movie itself was critically panned, Gleason and Pryor were praised.

Gleason's comic genius and acting ability are why Orson Welles nicknamed him "The Great One."

Personal life

Marriages and family

Gleason had been seeing a lot of Genevieve Halford, a dancer. They were both working in vaudeville when they met. Genevieve was very marriage-minded while Gleason was not really ready to settle down yet. She told him that they would either get married or she would begin seeing other men. It was no idle threat; when Gleason went onstage one evening at the Club Miami in Newark, New Jersey , Genevieve was seated in the front row with a handsome date. At the end of his show, Gleason went to the table and proposed to Genevieve in front of her date. They were married on September 20, 1936.

Genevieve expected a normal husband who would be home when not at work; Gleason fell back into spending his nights out. Separated for the first time in 1941 and reconciled in 1948, the couple had two daughters, Geraldine and Linda. Gleason and his wife were informally separated again in 1951. In early 1954, the comedian suffered a broken leg and ankle while on the air of his television show. His injuries were serious enough to sideline him for a few weeks; Gleason's friends filled in for him while he was on the mend. Gleason's injury dealt a permanent blow to his already troubled marriage to Genevieve; they were still separated at the time Gleason fell and was hospitalized for his injuries. Genevieve Gleason came to visit him in the hospital but found he already had a visitor: dancer Marilyn Taylor from his television show. The two women confronted each other with the result that Mrs. Gleason filed for a legal separation in April 1954. The couple were divorced in 1970.

Gleason met his second wife, Beverly McKittrick, a secretary, at a country club in 1968. Ten days after his divorce from Genevieve was final, Gleason and McKittrick were married in a registry ceremony in Ashford, Surrey|Ashford, England on July 4, 1970. Marilyn Taylor, who left show business in 1956 was re-united with Gleason in 1974, when she moved to the Miami area to be near her sister, June Taylor|June , whose dancers were part of Gleason's shows for many years. In September 1974, Gleason filed for divorce from McKittrick, who contested, asking for a reconciliation. The divorce was granted on November 19, 1975. Now a widow with a young son, Marilyn Taylor and Gleason were married on December 16, 1975; the marriage lasted until his death in 1987.

Gleason's daughter Linda was the one time wife of Actor/Playwright Jason Miller . The marriage produced Gleason's grandson, actor Jason Patric .

Fear of flying

For many years, Gleason would only travel by train; his fear of flying came from an incident at the time where he had only minor movie roles. Gleason would fly to Los Angeles for movie work, then back to New York when his roles were completed. After finishing one of his movies, the comedian boarded a plane for New York. Two of the plane's engines quit and the flight made a forced landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma .

While another plane was readied for the passengers to continue their journey, Gleason decided he had enough and made his way from the airport into the heart of the city. He walked into a hardware store and asked its owner to loan him $200 for his train trip back to New York. The amazed man asked Gleason why he thought anyone would lend a total stranger that amount of money. Gleason explained who he was and his situation; when the store owner learned of Gleason's movie work, he said he would loan him the money if the local theater had a photo of him on display in his latest film. Since Gleason was not yet a major motion picture star, the publicity shots the theater had were only of those with principal roles in the film. Gleason then proposed that he purchase two movie tickets and that they both see the film, as the hardware store owner would certainly be able to identify him from that. The two men sat in the dark theater for an hour before Gleason came on the screen. Gleason got his loan and boarded the next train back to New York. Returning home, he borrowed $200 to repay the Tulsa hardware store owner.

Interest in the paranormal

Gleason was a voracious reader of books on the paranormal , including The Urantia Book , parapsychology and UFO s. During the 1950s, he was a semi-regular guest on the paranormal-themed overnight radio show hosted by John Nebel , and wrote the introduction to Donald Bain (writer)|Donald Bain 's biography of Nebel. After his death, his large book collection was donated to the library of the University of Miami .

Photographic Memory

Jackie Gleason did not like to rehearse. He had a photographic memory , so he read the script over once, watched a rehearsal with his co-stars and his stand-in, then shot the show later that day. When Gleason would mess up, he often blamed the cue cards.

Illness and Death

Gleason smoked four packs of cigarettes a day. He was touring in the lead role of Larry Gelbart 's play Sly Fox in 1978 when he suffered chest pains, forcing him to leave the show in Chicago and undergo a triple bypass operation. Gleason initially went to the hospital for chest pains but was treated and released. After he suffered another bout of them the following week, it was determined that heart surgery was necessary.

Gleason delivered a critically acclaimed performance as an infirm but acerbic and somewhat Archie Bunker -like character in the Tom Hanks comedy-drama Nothing in Common (1986). The film proved to be Gleason's final film role, as he was suffering from Colorectal cancer|colon cancer , Hepatocellular carcinoma|liver cancer , and thrombosis|thrombosed hemorrhoid s during production. “I won’t be around much longer,” he told his daughter at dinner one evening after a day of filming Nothing in Common in 1986. The entertainer kept his medical problems private, though there had been rumors that he was seriously ill. A year later, on June 24, 1987 Gleason died at his Florida home.

After a private funeral Mass at Cathedral of Saint Mary in Miami , Gleason was interred in an outdoor mausoleum at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami, Florida. At the base is the inscription of one of his catchphrases: "And Away We Go."

Tributes

Miami Beach honored Gleason's contributions to the city and its tourism in 1987 by renaming the Miami Beach Auditorium (where he had done his television show after moving to Florida) as the Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater|Jackie Gleason Theater of the Performing Arts . The theater was scheduled to be razed as part of a Convention Center major remodeling project as of May, 2010; it would be replaced by a hotel. New York's Omni Park Hotel, where Gleason maintained a suite from 1953 to 1957, named it "The Jackie Gleason Suite" shortly after his death. A city park with racquetball and basketball courts (and a children's playground) near his home in an Inverrary neighborhood of Lauderhill, Florida was named "Jackie Gleason Park".

Local signs on the Brooklyn Bridge , which indicate to drivers that they are entering Brooklyn, have the Gleason phrase "How Sweet It Is!" as part of the sign.

He is also mentioned and seen on the 1955 TV in the 1985 movie Back to the Future when Marty McFly watches television in 1955 with his future grandparents.

Bus driver related

On June 30, 1988, the Sunset Park, Brooklyn|Sunset Park Bus Depot in Brooklyn was renamed the Jackie Gleason Depot in honor of the native Brooklynite.

A statue of Gleason as Ralph in his bus driver's uniform was dedicated in August 2000 in New York City by the cable TV channel TV Land . The statue is located in Manhattan at 40th Street and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Eighth Avenue at the entrance of the Port Authority Bus Terminal . Its inscription reads "Ralph Kramden: New Yorker, Bus Driver, Dreamer" and it was featured briefly in the film World Trade Center (film)|World Trade Center (2006).

Another such statue stands at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in North Hollywood, California , showing Gleason in his famous "And away we go!" pose.

On television

A television movie called Gleason was aired by CBS on October 13, 2002, taking a deeper look into Gleason's life; it took liberties with some of the Gleason story, but featured his troubled home life, a side of Gleason that few had previously known. The film also showed backstage scenes from his best-known work. Brad Garrett , from Everybody Loves Raymond , portrayed Gleason after Mark Addy had to drop out. Garrett was effectively made up to resemble Gleason in his prime. His height (6& prime;8& Prime;, about eight inches taller than Gleason) created some logistical problems on the sets, which had to be specially made so that Garrett did not tower over everyone else. Also, cast members wore platform shoes when standing next to Garrett; the shoes can be seen in one shot being worn by Alice during a Honeymooners sequence.

In 2003, after an absence of more than 30 years, the color, musical versions of The Honeymooners from the 1960s Jackie Gleason Show in Miami Beach were returned to television over the GoodLife TV (now ALN) cable network. In 2005, a movie version of The Honeymooners (2005 film)|The Honeymooners appeared in theaters, with a twist: a primarily African-American cast, headed by Cedric the Entertainer . This version, however, bore only a passing resemblance to Gleason's original series and was widely panned by critics.

Actor/playwright Jason Miller (playwright)|Jason Miller , a former son-in-law of Gleason's, was writing a screenplay based on Gleason's life that was to star Paul Sorvino . Miller died before completing the project. Gleason's daughter, Linda Miller (herself an actress), had been married to Miller. Their son is the actor Jason Patric .

Sean Cullen played a small role of Gleason in the 2002 made for TV movie Martin and Lewis (film)|Martin and Lewis .

Career accomplishments

Television

1949–1959

Your Sports Special (1949)

''The Lamb's Gambol (1949)

The Life of Riley (October 4, 1949 – March 28, 1950) TV series

The Arrow Show (1949)

Tex and Jinx (1949)

This Is Show Business (1950)

Showtime USA (1950)

Cavalcade of Stars (1950–1952) TV Series

The Frank Sinatra Show (1950)

Ford Star Revue (1951)

The Frank Sinatra Show (1951)

Cavalcade of Bands (1951)

Musical Comedy Time: No& #33; No& #33; Nanette! (1951)

Texacto Star Theatre (1951)

Ford Festival (1951)

This Is Show Business (1951)

The Colgate Comedy Hour (1951)

Ford Star Revue (1951)

The Colgate Comedy Hour (1951)

The Kate Smith Evening Hour (1951)

The Jackie Gleason Show (September 20, 1952 – June 18, 1955) TV Series

Arthur Murray Party (1952)

The Sam Levinson Show (1952)

The Ken Murray Show (1952)

Toast of the Town (1952)

Celebrity Time (1952)

''Scout O' Rama (1952)

''Jane Froman's USA Canteen (1952)

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends (1953)

Studio One: The Laugh Maker (May 18, 1953)

''What's My Line? (1953)

This Is Show Business (1953)

Arthur Murray Party (1953)

Toast of the Town (1954)

Name That Tune (1954)

Studio One: Short Cut (December 6, 1954)

The Best of Broadway: The Show Off (February 2, 1955)

''What's My Line? (1955)

''I've Got a Secret (1955)

The Jack Benny Program (1955)

Stage Show (1955)

The Honeymooners (October 1, 1955 – September 22, 1956) TV Series

The Red Skelton Show (1955)

Studio One: Uncle Ed and Circumstances (October 10, 1955)

The 64,000 Question (1956)

Person to Person (February 3, 1956)

The Herb Shriner Show (1956)

The Jackie Gleason Show (September 29, 1956 – June 22, 1957) TV Series

Playhouse 90: The Time of Your Life (October 9, 1958) TV Movie

This Is Your Life (1958)

Arthur Godfrey Show (1958)

The Jackie Gleason Show (October 1958 – January 1959) TV Series

All Star Jazz IV: The Golden Age of Jazz (January 4, 1959)

1960–1986

The Fabulous Fifties (1960)

Arthur Godfrey Special (1960)

The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (1960) TV Movie

The Jackie Gleason Special: The Big Sell (October 9, 1960)

Step On the Gas (CBS-10/19/60) TV special

The Red Skelton Show (1961)

Sunday Sports Spectacular: Jackie Gleason with the putter and cue (1961)

''You're In the Picture/The Jackie Gleason Show (January 27 – March 24, 1961)

The Jackie Gleason Special: The Million Dollar Incident (April 21, 1961) TV Movie

Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine (September 29, 1962 – June 4, 1966) TV Series

The 35th Annual Academy Awards (1963)

The Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre: The Big Stomach (November 16, 1966)

The Jackie Gleason Show (September 17, 1966 – September 12, 1970) TV Series

''Here's Lucy: Lucy Visits Jack Benny (1968)

The David Frost Show (1970)

The Jackie Gleason Special (December 20, 1970)

The Jackie Gleason Special (November 11, 1973)

Show Business Tribute to Milton Berle (1973)

Julie & Jackie: How Sweet It Is! (1974)

Bob Hope Special (1974)

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (1975)

Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason: Two for Three (December 3, 1975)

Super Night at the Super Bowl (1976)

The Mike Douglas Show (1976)

The Honeymooners Second Honeymoon (February 2, 1976)

Donahue (1976)

The Captain and Tennille (1976)

''Bing Crosby's White Christmas (1976)

The Honeymooners Christmas Special (November 28, 1977)

The Honeymooners Valentine Special (February 13, 1978)

The Second Honeymooners Christmas Special (December 10, 1978)

Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (June 3, 1983) TV Movie

All Star Party for Burt Reynolds (1984)

60 Minutes (1984)

Izzy & Moe (September 23, 1985) TV Movie

The Honeymooners Reunion (May 13, 1985)

The 39th Annual Tony Awards (June 2, 1985)

The Honeymooners Anniversary Celebration (October 18, 1985)

Gleason: In His Own Words (February 14, 1986)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1986)

Stage productions

Keep Off the Grass (1940)

Artists and Models (play)|Artists and Models (1943)

Follow the Girls (1944)

The Duchess Misbehaves (1945)

Heaven on Earth (musical)|Heaven on Earth (1948)

Along Fifth Avenue (1949)

Take Me Along (1959)

Sly Fox (1978)

Filmography

Navy Blues (1941 film)|Navy Blues (1941)

Steel Against the Sky (1941)

All Through the Night (film)|All Through the Night (1942)

Lady Gangster (1942)

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942 film)|Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942)

Larceny, Inc. (1942)

Escape from Crime (1942)

Orchestra Wives (1942)

Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

The Desert Hawk (1950 film)|The Desert Hawk (1950)

The Hustler (film)|The Hustler (1961)

Gigot (film)|Gigot (1962) (also writer)

Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)

'' Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)

Soldier in the Rain (1963)

Skidoo (film)|Skidoo (1968)

How to Commit Marriage (1969)

'' Don't Drink the Water (1969 film)|Don't Drink the Water (1969)

How Do I Love Thee? (1970)

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Mr. Billion (1977)

Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)

The Toy (1982 film)|The Toy (1982)

The Sting II (1983)

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983)

Fools Die (1984)

Nothing in Common (1986)

Singles Discography

Year	Title	Label and Number
1951	"What Is a Girl? "/ "What Is a Boy? " (spoken by Gleason)	Decca 27684
1952	"Melancholy Serenade"/ "You're Getting to Be a Habit"	Capitol F2361
1953	"Alone Together"/ "Body & Soul"	Capitol F2437
1953	"My Funny Valentine"/ "Love Is Here to Stay"	Capitol F2438
1953	"But Not for Me"/ "Love"	Capitol F2439
1953	"I'm in the Mood for Love"/ "I Only Have Eyes for You"	Capitol F2440
1953	"Terry's Theme from Limelight "/ "Peg O' My Heart"	Capitol F2507
1953	"White House Serenade"/ "The President's Lady"	Capitol F2515
1953	"Mystery Street"/ "Golden Violins"	Capitol F2659
1955	"The Band Played On"/ "In the Good Old Summertime"	Capitol F3144
1955	"Autumn Leaves"/ "Oo& #33; What You Do to Me"	Capitol F3223
1956	"Capri in May"/ "You're My Greatest Love"	Capitol F3337
1958	"Where Is She Now? "/ "Just Only Yesterday"	Capitol F4062
1961	"La La La La"	Capitol (No.? )
1962	"Allo 'Allo 'Allo"/ "Joi De Vivre" (soundtrack)	Capitol F4800

Unreleased Songs
The following songs were recorded for various LP albums, but not included in the final product. However, when the albums were released on CD, these songs were included as extras.

"A Little Love, a Little Kiss" (Capitol) (recorded for Music, Martini and Memories , rel'd. on CD ''Lover's Rhapsody , 2001)

"After You've Gone" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Music, Martini and Memories , released on the CD ''Lover's Rhapsody , 2001)

"Alice Blue Gown" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"Blue Café" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"Crazy Rhythm" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Music, Martini and Memories , released on the CD ''Lover's Rhapsody , 2001)

"I Concentrate on You" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"If You Were the Only Girl" (Capitol)(recorded for single release, released on Music To Remember Her CD, 2001)

"I'll Never Be the Same" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Romantic Jazz , released on the CD, 2002)

"It's All Right With Me" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"More Than You Know" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"My Baby Just Cares for Me" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"Rain" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Romantic Jazz , released on the CD, 2002)

"That Certain Party" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"The Waning Honeymoon" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP Night Winds , released on the CD, 2005)

"Too Much Mustard" (Capitol) (recorded for the LP And Awaaay We Go! , released on the CD for Night Winds , 2005)

"You're My Greatest Love" (Capitol)(recorded for the LP And Awaaay We Go! , released on the CD, 1996)

Sources for Unreleased Songs Data

Romantic Moods of Jackie Gleason CD, 1996

And Awaaay We Go! CD, 1996

''Lover's Rhapsody CD, 2001

Music to Remember Her CD, 2001

Romantic Jazz CD, 2002

Night Winds CD, 2005

LP Record Discography

#	Year	Title	Label and Number	U.S. Billboard 200 Chart
1	1952	Music for Lovers Only	Capitol H352 (10")	# 1 (153 weeks)
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. 35
6	1954	Music, Martinis and Memories	Capitol W509	# 1
7	1955	Lonesome Echo	Capitol H627 (10")	No. 5
8	1955	Music for Lovers Only	Capitol W352	No. 7
9	1955	Music to Make You Misty	Capitol W455	No. 11
10	1955	And Awaaay We Go!	Capitol W511	No. 85
11	1955	Romantic Jazz	Capitol W568	No. 2
12	1955	Music to Remember Her	Capitol W570	No. 5
13	1955	Lonesome Echo	Capitol W627	No. 1
14	1956	Music to Change Her Mind	Capitol W632	No. 8
15	1956	Night Winds	Capitol W717	No. 10
16	1956	Merry Christmas	Capitol W758	No. 16
17	1957	Music for the Love Hours	Capitol W816	No. 13
18	1957	Velvet Brass	Capitol SW/ W859	No. 16
19	1957	Jackie Gleason Presents "Oooo!"	Capitol SW/ W905	No. 14
20	1958	The Torch With the Blue Flame	Capitol SW/ W961	# 1
21	1958	Riff Jazz	Capitol SW/ W1020	No. 27
22	1959	Rebound	Capitol SW/ W1075	No. 18
23	1959	That Moment	Capitol SW/ W1147	No. 36
24	1959	Take Me Along (original cast)	RCA Victor LSO1050	-
25	1960	Aphrodisia	Capitol SW/ W1250	No. 49
26	1960	''Opiate D'Amour	Capitol SW/ W1314	No. 53
27	1961	Lazy Lively Love	Capitol SW/ W1439	No. 57
28	1961	The Gentle Touch	Capitol SW/ W1519	No. 62
29	1962	''A Lover's Portfolio (two records in a "briefcase")	Capitol SWBO/ SBO1619	No. 135
30	1962	Love, Embers and Flame	Capitol SW/ W1689	No. 103
31	1963	Gigot (soundtrack)	Capitol SW/ W1754	-
32	1963	Champagne, Candlelight & Kisses	Capitol SW/ W1830	No. 97
33	1963	Movie Themes For Lovers Only	Capitol SW/ W1877	No. 82
34	1963	''Today's Romantic Hits/ For Lovers Only	Capitol SW/ W1978	No. 115
35	1964	''A Lover's Portfolio Vol. 1 (Music for Sippin' & Dancin')	Capitol SW/ W1979	No. 128
36	1964	''A Lover's Portfolio Vol. 2 (Music for Listenin' & Lovin')	Capitol SW/ W1980	No. 137
37	1964	''Today's Romantic Hits/ For Lovers Only Vol. 2	Capitol SW/ W2056	No. 82
38	1965	''Last Dance For Lover's Only	Capitol SW/ W2144
39	1965	''Silk 'N' Brass	Capitol SW/ W2409	No. 141
40	1966	Music from Around the World – For Lovers Only	Capitol SW/ W2471	-
41	1966	How Sweet It Is For Lovers	Capitol SW/ W2582	No. 71
42	1967	A Taste of Brass For Lovers Only	Capitol SW/ W2684	No. 200
43	1967	' Tis the Season	Capitol ST/ T2791	No. 37
44	1968	The Best of Jackie Gleason	Capitol SW/ W2796	-
45	1968	''Doublin' In Brass	Capitol SW/ W2880	-
46	1969	The Best of Jackie Gleason, vol. 2	Capitol SKAO-146	-
47	1969	''Irving Berlin's Music For Lovers Only	Capitol SW106	-
48	1969	The Now Sound	Capitol SW/ W2935	-
49	1969	Close Up	Capitol ST255	No. 192
50	1969	All I Want for Christmas	Capitol ST346	No. 13
51	1970	Romeo & Juliet	Capitol ST398	-
52	1970	Come Saturday Morning	Capitol ST480	-
53	1971	Words of Love	Capitol ST693	-

Discography courtesy of Tom Lowery (from his personal collection).

Compact Disc Discography

Year	Title	Label
1991	Night Winds & Music to Make You Misty	Capitol
1993	The Best of Jackie Gleason	Curb
1994	Shangri-La	Pair
1994	Lush Moods	Pair
1994	Intimate Music for Lovers	CEMA Special Markets
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& #33; 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

Sources

Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Albums, 6th edition , ISBN 0-89820-166-7

Additional information obtained can be verified within ''Billboard's and print editions of the magazine.

Undetermined Music Artists