Jackie Gleason Biography

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Jackie Gleason
Love & Romance | 3 CD Set
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Comedians have a serious side that some attempt to bring out in a variety of ways. Charlie Chaplin got into music. Red Skelton took up painting and Jackie Gleason led an orchestra. Well, at least on records. Gleason was born Herbert John Gleason in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York. He died in 1987. He became a comedic legend for his early work in television before returning to movies. He can be seen in the 1942 big band film "Orchestra Wives," playing bass, and was on Broadway in several plays, including "Artists and Models" and "Follow the Girls." With the beginning of the '50s, Gleason was headed for stardom in television. He got a role in "The Life of Riley" and then his popular "Cavalcade of Stars" took off in 1949 with Gleason and Art Carney creating sketches that took the country by storm. From this came his "Honeymooner" character and its subsequent awesome success in the '50s. He also had a variety show that featured new talent, but in the summer of 1956 he gave its reins to the Dorsey Brothers (Tommy and Jimmy). One of its huge moments was the television introduction of Elvis Presley. "The Honeymooners" continues on late-night cable television. Gleason was an actor capable of many facets of emotion and his role in "The Hustler" proved that as he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the 1961 movie that also starred Paul Newman. He was also in "Requiem For a Heavyweight," by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, and took on a comedic role in the Burt Reynolds flick "Smokey and the Bandit" in 1977. But on the music side, he recorded a number of mood-inducing albums in the '50s and '60s and wrote the score for 1962's "Gigot" besides writing the theme music, "Melancholy Serenade," for his show. He had several Top 10 albums of "mood music" in 1956-57 and featured in them occasionally were trumpeters Bobby Hackett and Pee Wee Erwin.

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