"The Great One", Jackie Gleason interviewed by Morley Safer in 1984 9:42 / 19:28 "The Great One", Jackie Gleason interviewed by Morley Safer in 1984 [video]

Youtube ^ | 6/3/2020 | pianopappy

[simpson96]

"What began as a dream assignment for a deserving Morley Safer turned into a dream segment for tomorrow night's edition of "60 Minutes": spend a little time with The Great One, the enormous yet agile gifted natural whose television art has rarely been recognized with awards, but who found a way to synthesize social realism and broad burlesque into some of the most inspired comic creations in all of 20th-century fantasy: Ralph Kramden, the Willy Loman of bus drivers and now an American icon, the Poor Soul, Reginald Van Gleason III, and so on."

[simpson96]

.

After The honeymooners, Gleason asked for and got a train for his entire company to travel from California to Florida, to do another TV show.

Safer: "Was there a bar on the train?"

Gleason: (laughing) "Was there a bar on the train? The train was a bar."

[NFHale]

Always like Jackie... hell of a guy.

[SunkenCiv]

His last movie, if memory serves, was “Nothing in Common”, which was one of the first of Tom Hanks’ movies; overall, it was immaculately cast.

By the way, Jackie Gleason’s brilliant, restless mind led him to acquire what was and probably still is the largest collection of fringe literature ever assembled.

Jackie Gleason’s occult library on exhibit in Miami / Boing Boing
Xeni Jardin / 9:36 pm Wed Sep 12, 2007
https://boingboing.net/2007/09/12/jackie-gleasons-mass.html

[LouieFisk]

Couple of gems from his show -
Crazy Guggenheim (Frank Fountaine}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTm9krDGYhU

and probably less remembered, comedian Stan Ross (”I’m with you!”) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4c8ITbM3Y

[LouieFisk]

That’s interesting, never knew that. Used to come across an occasional “Fate” magazine sitting around at the house growing up back in the day.

[duckman]

Thanx for posting, Followed his career through out the 50’s. Great guy and knew how to live life to it’s fullest. One of a kind.

[bobby.223]

One of a kind is right! He and Paul Newman were great together in ‘The Hustler’. Fast Eddie to Fats: “Heh, I’m the best there is Fats, I’m the best ya ever seen....even if ya beat me I’m still the best!”

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping for later viewing*

[FreedomPoster]

The link to the collection in that article is stale, but it’s there at the Wayback Machine.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031356/http://scholar.library.miami.edu/gleason/

[a fool in paradise]

Brits think Karl Marx is the Great One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oookV00Wd8

[TakebackGOP]

I heard him on the Long John Nebel Show and he was angry at a guest who he thought wrote lies about UFOs.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[nonliberal]

I was reading an article on Rush Limbaugh once and the author had dinner with Rush and described it as “how Jackie Gleason would have lived.”

[fieldmarshaldj]

If you can spare 20 minutes to watch this, it’s worth your time. Back when Hollywood produced real stars, real talent, and real men.