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...See full bio »
1994Jackie Gleason's Cavalcade of Characters
(TV movie)
Reginald Van Gleason III / the Poor Soul / Joe the Bartender / Charlie Bratton (the Loudmoth / Rudy the Repairman / Fenwick Babbit
[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.
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Trivia:
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."
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,4,136,19,200,arialbd,7,255,255,255,1_ZA02:08,164,1,14,40,verdenab,7,255,255,255,1_.jpg "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Season 1: Episode 452 -- Larry shares classic stories about run-ins with Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason and promotes his book, 'Truth Be Told.'")
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