Editing Jackie Gleason (section)

==={{anchor|Entering television}}Early television===
[[File:Jackie Gleason Rosemary DeCamp The Life of Riley 1949.JPG|thumb|Gleason and [[Rosemary DeCamp]] as Chester and Peg Riley in ''The Life of Riley'']]
[[File:Jackie Gleason show 1955.JPG|thumb|Gleason and Margaret Jeanne (of the June Taylor dancers) get ready for [[St. Patrick's Day]] 1955.|alt=Jackie Gleason straightening a dancer's hat]]

Gleason's big break occurred in 1949 when, while working at Slapsy Maxie's and earning the attention of New York City's inner circle, he landed work with the fledgling [[DuMont Television Network]].<ref name=NewYorkMag/> His first role with DuMont was the role of blunt but softhearted aircraft worker Chester A. Riley for the first television version of the radio comedy ''[[The Life of Riley]]'', replacing [[William Bendix]], who was unable to take the role due to contractual issues. Despite positive reviews, the show was canceled after one year, in part to DuMont's substantial disadvantages. (Bendix did resume the role beginning in 1953 for a more successful five-year series.)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=lifeofriley|title=The Life of Riley|publisher=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=February 3, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211021032/http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=lifeofriley|archive-date=February 11, 2011}}</ref><ref name=Sydney/> As Gleason's time on ''The Life of Riley'' ended in 1950, DuMont's ''Cavalcade of Stars'' variety hour in 1950 had an opening when that show's host [[Jerry Lester]] jumped to [[NBC]] to host the first [[late-night talk show|late-night comedy/variety series]] ''[[Broadway Open House]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/jerry-lester/biography/|title=Jerry Lester Biography|publisher=tv.com|accessdate=10 February 2015|archive-date=February 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206044546/http://www.tv.com/people/jerry-lester/biography/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Comedy writer [[Harry Crane]], whom Gleason knew from his days as a stand-up comedian in New York, recommended Gleason for the job.<ref name=UCLA>[http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Papers-of-5661 UCLA Newsroom: "UCLA Library Acquires Papers of Television Pioneer Harry Crane" by Teri Bond Michael] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731034259/http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/UCLA-Library-Acquires-Papers-of-5661 |date=July 31, 2015 }} November 18, 2004</ref> The program initially had rotating hosts; Gleason was first offered two weeks at $750 per week. The offer was extended to four weeks when he responded that this arrangement would not be worth the train trip to New York. Gleason returned to New York for the show and soon became permanent host.<ref name=NewYorkMag/> He framed the acts with splashy dance numbers, developed sketch characters he would refine over the next decade, and became enough of a presence that CBS wooed him to its network in 1952.

Renamed ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]'', the program became the country's second-highest-rated television show during the 1954–55 season.<ref name="Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle 2007">{{cite book|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present|author1=Brooks, Tim  |author2=Marsh, Earle|year=2007|publisher=[[Ballantine Books]]|isbn=978-0-345-49773-4|title-link=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–present }}</ref> Gleason amplified the show with even splashier opening dance numbers inspired by [[Busby Berkeley]]'s screen dance routines and featuring the precision-choreographed [[June Taylor Dancers]]. Following the dance performance, he would do an opening monolog. Then, accompanied by "a little travelin' music" ("[[That's a Plenty]]", a [[Dixieland]] classic from 1914), he would shuffle toward the wings, clapping his hands and shouting, "And awaaay we go!" The phrase became one of his trademarks, along with "How sweet it is!" (which he used in reaction to almost anything).<ref name="Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle 2007"/> Theona Bryant, a former [[John Robert Powers|Powers Girl]], became Gleason's "And awaaay we go" girl. [[Ray Bloch]] was Gleason's first music director, followed by [[Sammy Spear]], who stayed with him through the 1960s; Gleason often kidded with his music directors during his opening monologs. He continued developing comic characters, including:
* ''Reginald Van Gleason III'', a top-hatted millionaire with a taste for both the good life and fantasy;
* ''Rudy the Repairman,'' boisterous and boorish;
* ''Joe the Bartender'', gregarious and with friendly words for the never-seen Mr. Dennehy (who was always the first one at the bar);
* ''The Poor Soul'', a silent character who could (and often did) come to grief in the least-expected places (or demonstrated gratitude at such gifts as being allowed to share a newspaper on a subway);
* ''Rum Dum'', a character with a brush-like mustache who often stumbled around as though drunk and confused;
* ''Fenwick Babbitt'', a friendly, addle-headed young man usually depicted working at various jobs and invariably failing;
* ''Charlie Bratton'', a loudmouth who frequently picked on the mild-mannered Clem Finch (portrayed by [[Art Carney]], a future ''Honeymooners'' co-star);
* ''Stanley R. Sogg'', a pitchman who usually appeared on commercials during late-night TV movies, often selling items that came with extras or bonuses (the ultimate inducement was a 10-pound wedge of Facciamara's Macaroni cheese); and
* ''The Bachelor,'' a silent character (accompanied by the song "Somebody Loves Me") doing everyday things in an unusually lazy (or makeshift) way.

[[File:Jackie Gleason Poor Soul Toast of the Town 1954.JPG|thumb|right|Gleason as the Poor Soul on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|Toast of the Town]]'' in 1954|alt=The Poor Soul, staring at a stretching ballerina]]

In a 1985 interview, Gleason explained how some of his invented comic characters were associated with his youth in Brooklyn. The Mr. Dennehy whom Joe the Bartender greets is a tribute to Gleason's first love, Julie Dennehy. The character of The Poor Soul was drawn from an assistant manager of an outdoor theater he frequented.<ref name=NewYorkMag/>

Gleason disliked rehearsing. Using [[photographic memory]]<ref>{{cite web|title=After 53 Years in the Limelight, Jackie Gleason Revels in How Sweet It Still Is|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077779,00.html|work=People|publisher=Time Inc|access-date=August 16, 2012|author=Jim Callo|date=November 3, 1980|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214053733/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077779,00.html|archive-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> he read the script once, then watched a rehearsal with his co-stars and stand-in and shot the show later that day. When he made mistakes, he often blamed the cue cards.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mistakes & Blunders|url=http://www.tvparty.com/emistakes.html|work=www.TVParty.com|publisher=Billy Ingram|access-date=August 16, 2012|author=Billy Ingram|year=1995–2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923151636/http://www.tvparty.com/emistakes.html|archive-date=September 23, 2012}}</ref>

====''The Honeymooners''====
{{Main|The Honeymooners}}
[[File:Gleason meadows honeymooners 1955.jpg|thumb|Gleason as Ralph Kramden with [[Audrey Meadows]] as Alice, circa 1955|alt=Alice Kramden kissing Ralph after he gives her a bouquet]]
Gleason's most famous character by far was blustery bus driver Ralph Kramden. Drawn mainly from Gleason's harsh Brooklyn childhood, the Ralph Kramden sketches became known as ''The Honeymooners.'' The show was based on Ralph's many get-rich-quick schemes, his ambition, his antics with his best friend and neighbor, scatterbrained sewer worker Ed Norton, and clashes with his sensible wife, Alice, who typically pulled Ralph's head down from the clouds.

Gleason developed catchphrases he used on ''The Honeymooners'', such as threats to Alice: "One of these days, Alice, pow! right in the kisser" and "Bang! Zoom! To the Moon, Alice, to the Moon!"

''The Honeymooners'' originated from a sketch Gleason was developing with his show's writers. He said he had an idea he wanted to enlarge: a skit with a smart, quiet wife and her very vocal husband. He described that while the couple had their fights, underneath it all, they loved each other. Titles for the sketch were tossed around until someone came up with ''The Honeymooners''.<ref name=NewYorkMag>{{cite magazine|title=Gleason's Second Honeymoon|author=Hamill, Pete|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CLkBAAAAMBAJ&q=sammy%20birch%20gleason&pg=PA42|date=September 23, 1985|magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]]|access-date=February 3, 2011}}</ref>

''The Honeymooners'' first appeared on ''Cavalcade of Stars'' on October 5, 1951, with Carney in a guest appearance as a cop (Norton did not appear until a few episodes later) and character actress [[Pert Kelton]] as Alice. Darker and fiercer than the milder later version with [[Audrey Meadows]] as Alice, the sketches proved popular with critics and viewers. In these early episodes with Kelton playing Alice, Gleason's frustrated bus driver character had a battleaxe of a wife, and the arguments between them were harrowingly realistic; when Meadows (who was 15 years younger than Kelton) took over the role after Kelton was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]], the tone of the episodes softened considerably.

When Gleason moved to CBS, Kelton was left behind; her name had been published in ''[[Red Channels]]'', a book that listed and described reputed communists (and communist sympathizers) who worked in television and radio, and CBS did not want to hire her. Gleason reluctantly let her be removed from the cast; the reason was covered up by telling the media that she had "heart trouble". At first, Gleason turned down Meadows as Kelton's replacement. Meadows wrote in her memoir that after her unsuccessful audition, she frumped herself up and slipped back in to audition again to convince Gleason that she could handle the role of a frustrated (but loving) working-class wife. Rounding out the cast, [[Joyce Randolph]] played Trixie, Ed Norton's wife. [[Elaine Stritch]] had played the role of a tall and attractive blonde in the first sketch but was quickly replaced by Randolph. Comedy writer [[Leonard B. Stern|Leonard Stern]] always felt ''The Honeymooners'' was more than sketch material and persuaded Gleason to make it into a full-hour-long episode.

In 1955, Gleason gambled on making it a [[The Honeymooners|separate series entirely]]. The result was the "Classic 39" episodes, which finished 19th in the ratings during their only season.<ref name="Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle 2007"/> They were filmed with a new DuMont process, [[Electronicam]]. Like [[kinescopes]], it preserved a live performance on film; unlike kinescopes (which were screenshots), the film was of higher quality and comparable to a motion picture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dumonthistory.com/a4.html|title=Electronicam|publisher=DuMont Television Network Historical Website|author=Ingraham, Clarke}}</ref> Using this higher-quality video process turned out to be Gleason's most prescient move. A decade later, he aired the half-hour ''Honeymooners'' in syndicated reruns that began to build a loyal and growing audience, making the show a television [[Pop icon|icon]]. Its popularity was such that in 2000, a life-sized statue of Jackie Gleason, in uniform as bus driver Ralph Kramden, was installed outside the [[Port Authority Bus Terminal]] in New York City.

Gleason returned to a live show format for 1956–57, with short and long versions, including hour-long musicals. Ten years later, these musical presentations were reprised in color, with Sheila MacRae and Jane Keane as Alice and Trixie.

Audrey Meadows reappeared for one black-and-white remake of the '50s sketch "The Adoption," telecast January 8, 1966. Ten years later, she rejoined Gleason and Carney (with Jane Kean replacing Joyce Randolph) for several TV specials (one special from 1973 was shelved).

''The Jackie Gleason Show'' ended in June 1957. In 1959, Gleason discussed the possibility of bringing back ''The Honeymooners'' in new episodes; his dream was partially realized with a Kramden-Norton sketch on a CBS variety show in late 1960, and two more sketches on his hour-long CBS show ''The American Scene Magazine'' in 1962.