The Extraordinary Life of Jackie Gleason

   

His penchant for fine food, generously poured scotch and beautiful women; his ability to dominate a room, a stage or the screen; his taste for custom-made suits, monogrammed shirts and the ubiquitous red carnation; his appetite for the biggest, the best and just a dollar more than the other guy made, all became a part of the Gleason legend which began on Brooklyn’s Herkimer Street in 1916.

During the 50’s and 60’s, Gleason recorded 43 albums of music, wrote the theme songs for his 2 principle TV shows, The Honeymooners and The Jackie Gleason Show, built a round 'UFO' house in Peekskill, New York, starred in nine films, garnered an “Oscar” nomination for The Hustler, won a “Tony” for his Broadway performance as Uncle Sid in Take Me Along. Were that not enough, he hosted more than 30 plus television specials.
(From 1962 to 1976)

On June 24, 1987 Jackie passed away from colon cancer in his exclusive Inverrary home. “Throughout his professional life (Jackie) kept the heart of a child. A whimsicalness that cheered up a sad and tired world.” He is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in a lavish above-ground mausoleum that truly suits “The Great One.” Etched into the marble stairway leading to his sarcophagus reads the inscription, “And Away We Go.”

 

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