- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHerbert Walton Gleason Jr.
- Nicknames
- "The Great One"
- "The Abdominal Showman"
- "Mr. Miami Beach"
- Height1.77 m
- Comedian, actor, composer and conductor, educated in New York public schools. He was a master of ceremonies in amateur shows, a carnival barker, daredevil driver and a disc jockey, and later a comedian in night clubs. By the mid-1950s he had turned to writing original music and recording a series of popular and best-selling albums with his orchestra for Capitol Records. Joining ASCAP in 1953, his instrumental compositions include "Melancholy Serenade", "Glamour", "Lover's Rhapsody", "On the Beach" and "To a Sleeping Beauty", among numerous others.- IMDb mini biography by: A
- Jackie Gleason's paternal grandfather, William Walton Gleason, was an Irish immigrant, and his paternal grandmother, who was U.S.-born, had English and Dutch ancestry. His mother was also an Irish immigrant, from Farranree, Cork. His father, Herb Gleason (1884-1964), was a henpecked insurance clerk who took his myriad disappointments in life out in drink. He deserted the family when Jackie was nine. His mother (d. 1935), the former Mae Kelly, was overprotective of her younger son. His older brother and only sibling, Clement (sometimes called Clemence) Gleason, died (probably of tuberculosis) at the age of 14, when Jackie was three years old.- IMDb mini biography by: Robert Sieger
- SpousesMarilyn Gleason(December 16, 1975 - June 24, 1987) (his death)Beverly Gleason(July 4, 1970 - November 24, 1975) (divorced)Genevieve Halford(September 20, 1936 - June 24, 1970) (divorced, 2 children)
- ChildrenGeraldine Chutuk
- RelativesJennifer Miller(Grandchild)Jordan Andrew Miller(Grandchild)Clement Gleason(Sibling)Jason Patric(Grandchild)
- Often played a working class everyman
- Stocky build
- Ralph Kramden says to Alice "One of these days, one of these days POW right in the kisser".
- The popular Hanna-Barbera character Fred Flintstone was based on him, as "The Flintstones" animated series was loosely based on "The Honeymooners". Upon realizing this, Gleason tried to file a lawsuit against Hanna-Barbera but was dissuaded from doing so by friends and colleagues who advised him that it would be bad for his reputation if he became known as "the man who killed Fred Flintstone.".
- Buried in Miami, FL. His gravesite is all that one would expect. Engraved in the "riser" of the second step from the top is the classic, "AND AWAY WE GO".
- The set of The Honeymooners (1955) show was based on his childhood home on Chauncey Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant (originally Bushwick) area of Brooklyn, NY. The apartment building is still there and looks very much the same as in Jackie's time.
- He was legendary for his dislike of rehearsal, even in the early days of live TV. Yet he was equally renowned for his total mastery and control over each production detail and insisted on the show credit: "Entire Production Supervised by Jackie Gleason."
- Had an interest in the occult as well as an extensive collection of books on the paranormal.
- Drinking removes warts and pimples. Not from me. But from those I look at.
- [trademark line] How sweet it is!"
- I'm no alcoholic. I'm a drunkard. There's a difference. A drunkard doesn't like to go to meetings.
- The worst thing you can do with money is save it.
- [on what inspired him to became a "mood music" legend, via a series of successful albums] Every time I ever watched Clark Gable do a love scene in the movies, I'd hear this really pretty music, real romantic, come up behind him and help set the mood. So I'm figuring that if Gable needs that kinda help, then a guy in Canarsie has gotta be dyin' for something like this.
- Tu fais pas le poids, shérif! (1981) - $1,200,000
- The Jackie Gleason Show (1966) - $50,000 /week
- L'Arnaqueur (1962) - $75,000
- The Fabulous Fifties (1960) - $50,000
- Cavalcade of Stars (1949) - $750 /week
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