144-621: The Honeymooners is an American television sitcom that originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason , and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It follows the lives of New York City bus driver Ralph Kramden (Gleason), his wife Alice ( Audrey Meadows ), Ralph's best friend Ed Norton ( Art Carney ) and Ed's wife Trixie ( Joyce Randolph ) as they get involved with various schemes in their day-to-day living. Most episodes revolve around Ralph's poor choices in absurd dilemmas that frequently show his judgmental attitude in
288-426: A Peabody Award . He abandoned the show in 1957 when his ratings for the season came in at No. 29 and the network "suggested" he needed a break. He returned in 1958 with a half-hour show featuring Buddy Hackett , which did not catch on. In addition to his salary and royalties, CBS paid for Gleason's Peekskill, New York , mansion " Round Rock Hill ". Set on six acres, the architecturally noteworthy complex included
432-478: A separate series entirely . The result was the "Classic 39" episodes, which finished 19th in the ratings during their only season. 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. Using this higher-quality video process turned out to be Gleason's most prescient move. A decade later, he aired
576-526: A CBS variety show in late 1960, and two more sketches on his hour-long CBS show The American Scene Magazine in 1962. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career, producing a series of bestselling " mood music " albums with jazz overtones for Capitol Records . Gleason believed there was a ready market for romantic instrumentals. His goal was to make "musical wallpaper that should never be intrusive, but conducive". He recalled seeing Clark Gable play love scenes in movies;
720-437: 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). Theona Bryant, a former 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
864-460: A baby girl whom they named Ralphina. However, the biological mother requested to have her baby returned. A few later sketches had Ralph mistakenly believe that Alice was pregnant. Early cast additions in later sketches were upstairs neighbors Ed and Trixie Norton. Ed was a sewer worker and Ralph's best friend, although his innocent and guileless nature was the source of many arguments between the two men. Trixie (maiden name never mentioned), Ed's wife,
1008-588: A bad provider. Alice's father is occasionally mentioned, but never seen. Alice's sister Agnes appears in episode 22, "Here Comes The Bride". (Ralph jeopardizes his newlywed sister-in-law's marriage after giving some bad advice to the groom, but it all works out in the end). Ralph and Alice lived with her mother for six years after getting married before they got their own apartment. In a 1967 revival, Ralph refers to Alice (played by MacRae in 1966–70 and once more in 1973) as being one of 12 children, and to her father as never working. The Honeymooners originally appeared as
1152-417: A class play; he quit school before graduating and got a job that paid $ 4 per night (equivalent to $ 94 in 2023) as master of ceremonies at a theater. Other jobs he held at that time included pool hall worker, stunt driver, and carnival barker . Gleason and his friends made the rounds of the local theaters; he put an act together with one of his friends, and the pair performed on an amateur night at
1296-541: A comedic tone. The show occasionally features more serious issues such as women's rights and social status . The original comedy sketches first aired on the DuMont network's variety series Cavalcade of Stars , which Gleason hosted, and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show , which was broadcast live in front of a theater audience. The popularity of the sketches led Gleason to rework The Honeymooners as
1440-420: A few other dogs. However, in the next episode, the dogs are nowhere to be seen and are never referred to again. Occasionally, references to earlier episodes were made, including to Ralph's various "crazy harebrained schemes" from the lost episodes. Norton's sleepwalking in "The Sleepwalker" was referenced in "Oh My Aching Back", but it was not until the 1967 "Trip To Europe" shows that a Honeymooners story arc
1584-585: A filmed half-hour series, which debuted on 1 October 1955 on CBS, replacing the variety series. It was initially a ratings success as the No. 2 show in the United States, facing stiff competition from The Perry Como Show on NBC . Gleason's show eventually dropped to No. 19, and production ended after 39 episodes (now referred to as the "Classic 39 episodes" ). The final episode of The Honeymooners aired on 22 September 1956, and Gleason sporadically revived
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#17327979371951728-530: A five-year series, and it became a hit. But long before this, Gleason's nightclub act had received attention from New York City's inner circle and the fledgling DuMont Television Network . He was working at Slapsy Maxie's when he was hired to host DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars variety hour in 1950, having been recommended by comedy writer Harry Crane , whom he knew from his days as a stand-up comedian in New York. The program initially had rotating hosts; Gleason
1872-483: A garden to the south, with a wishing well that may have inspired the song " There's a Small Hotel " from the musical On Your Toes (1936). It also housed a speakeasy in the basement. A sign above the hotel entrance reads "Joyously Enter Here". It was later the home of the California Television Society. When away from rehearsing and performing, Kelton enjoyed art as a pastime and became
2016-470: A heartfelt manner, "Baby, you're the greatest," followed by a hug and kiss. In most episodes, Ralph's short temper got the best of him, leading him to yell at others and to threaten comical physical violence, usually against Alice. Ralph's favorite threats to her were "One of these days ... One of these days ... Pow! right in the kisser!" or to knock her "to the Moon, Alice!" (Sometimes this last threat
2160-482: A lot more about music than people give him credit for. I have seen him conduct a 60-piece orchestra and detect one discordant note in the brass section. He would immediately stop the music and locate the wrong note. It always amazed the professional musicians how a guy who technically did not know one note from another could do that. And he was never wrong. The composer and arranger George Williams has been cited in various biographies as having served as ghostwriter for
2304-495: A native of California. Kelton was reportedly named by her aunt, who suggested the name "Pert" to her mother after her favorite theatrical role, the character "Pert Barlow" in a play called Checkers . In 1910, while accompanying her parents and sister on an overseas tour of shows, she debuted on stage at the age of three in Cape Town , Union of South Africa . Upon her return to the United States with her family, Kelton
2448-412: A nod to the fact that Jackie Gleason lived there after his family moved from his birthplace at 364 Chauncey Street. In the 1955 episode "A Woman's Work is Never Done", the address is referred to as 728 Chauncey Street. The landlord of the apartment house is Mr. Johnson. In The Honeymooners episodes taped from 1967 to 1970, the address of the apartment house changed to 358 Chauncey Street, and the number of
2592-460: A painted backdrop view of a fire escape and adjoining tenements, a noisy sink and an outdated icebox . The Kramdens' bedroom never was seen. One of the few other sitcoms about a blue-collar family was The Life of Riley , a show that featured Gleason in its first season (1949–50). The instrumental theme song for The Honeymooners , titled "You're My Greatest Love", was composed by Gleason and performed by an orchestra led by Ray Bloch, previously
2736-542: A park bench where Ralph and Ed occasionally meet for lunch, and on occasion the Nortons' apartment (always noticeably better-furnished than the Kramdens'). Many episodes begin with a shot of Alice in the apartment awaiting Ralph's arrival from work. Most episodes focus on Ralph's and Ed's characters, although Alice played a substantial role. Trixie played a smaller role in the series, and did not appear in every episode as did
2880-460: A poor husband and wife living in Brooklyn , his home borough. The couple would continually argue but ultimately show their love for each other. After rejecting titles such as "The Beast", "The Lovers" and "The Couple Next Door", Gleason and his staff settled on "The Honeymooners". Gleason took the role of Ralph Kramden, a blustery bus driver, and he chose veteran comedy film actress Pert Kelton for
3024-407: A professional comedian. Following this, he would always have regular work in small clubs. Gleason worked his way up to a job at New York's Club 18, where insulting its patrons was the order of the day. Gleason greeted noted skater Sonja Henie by handing her an ice cube and saying, "Okay, now do something." It was here that Jack L. Warner first saw Gleason, signing him to a film contract for $ 250
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#17327979371953168-522: A reenactment of a 1955 non-musical sketch of the same name, with original songs added by Duddy and Bresler. When The Jackie Gleason Show , by then based at Gleason's relocated headquarters in Miami Beach, Florida , returned in 1966, the "Honeymooners" sketches, in color for the first time, featured Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean in the roles of Alice and Trixie, as Meadows and Randolph declined to relocate to Miami. Gleason did not object to recasting
3312-462: A remake of "Six Months of Live" is still missing.) In 1959, TV Guide magazine mentioned Gleason's interest in producing new Honeymooners shows. This did not happen for several years, but Gleason did team with Carney to revive an old Honeymooners scene for an October 1960 CBS special titled The Big Sell . After the spectacular failure of Gleason's 1961 game show You're in the Picture and
3456-428: A round main home, guest house, and storage building. It took Gleason two years to design the house, which was completed in 1959. Gleason sold the home when he relocated to Miami. In October 1960, Gleason and Carney briefly returned for a Honeymooners sketch on a TV special. His next foray into television was the game show You're in the Picture , which was canceled after a disastrously received premiere episode but
3600-601: A scheme to marry her off to the neighborhood butcher. The series presents Ralph as an everyman and an underdog who struggles to make a better life for himself and his wife, but who ultimately fails due to his own shortcomings. He, often along with Ed, devises a number of get-rich-quick schemes, none of which succeed. Ralph would be quick to blame others for his misfortune until it was pointed out to him where he had fallen short. Ralph's anger then would be replaced by short-lived remorse, and he would apologize for his actions. Many of these apologies to Alice ended with Ralph saying in
3744-421: A sentimental ballad in his fine, lilting baritone. Gleason revived The Honeymooners —first with Sue Ane Langdon as Alice and Patricia Wilson as Trixie for two episodes of The American Scene Magazine , then with Sheila MacRae as Alice and Jane Kean as Trixie for the 1966 series. By 1964 Gleason had moved the production from New York to Miami Beach, Florida , reportedly because he liked year-round access to
3888-552: A series of Honeymooners specials for ABC . Gleason hosted four ABC specials during the mid-1970s. Gleason and Carney also made a television movie, Izzy and Moe (1985), about an unusual pair of historic Federal prohibition agents in New York City who achieved an unbeatable arrest record with highly successful techniques including impersonations and humor, which aired on CBS in 1985. In April 1974, Gleason revived several of his classic characters (including Ralph Kramden, Joe
4032-556: A singer and actress, delighting audiences with her 'Madame Plumpadore' sketches with 'Reginald Van Gleason.' The final sketch was always set in Joe the Bartender's saloon with Joe singing "My Gal Sal" and greeting his regular customer, the unseen Mr. Dennehy (the TV audience, as Gleason spoke to the camera in this section). During the sketch, Joe would tell Dennehy about an article he had read in
4176-606: A sketch on the DuMont Network 's Cavalcade of Stars , with the role of Alice played by Pert Kelton (1907–1968). When his contract with DuMont expired, Gleason moved to the CBS network where he had The Jackie Gleason Show , and the role of Alice went to Audrey Meadows because Kelton had been blacklisted . According to playwright Arthur Miller , a family friend, writing many years later in his autobiography Timebends: A Life , extensive inquiries finally revealed that her blacklisting
4320-675: A small part as a soda shop clerk in Larceny, Inc. (1942), with Edward G. Robinson and a modest part as an actor's agent in the 1942 Betty Grable – Harry James musical Springtime in the Rockies . During World War II , Gleason was initially exempt from military service since he was a father of two. However, in 1943, the US started drafting men with children. When Gleason reported to his induction, doctors discovered that his broken left arm had healed crooked (the area between his thumb and forefinger
4464-498: A stock company of second bananas, chorus girls and dwarfs). Comedienne Alice Ghostley occasionally appeared as a downtrodden tenement resident sitting on her front step and listening to boorish boyfriend Gleason for several minutes. After the boyfriend took his leave, the smitten Ghostley would exclaim, "I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" Veteran comics Johnny Morgan, Sid Fields, and Hank Ladd were occasionally seen opposite Gleason in comedy sketches. Helen Curtis played alongside him as
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4608-619: A style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn , New York, and was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city bus driver character Ralph Kramden in the television series The Honeymooners . He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show , which maintained high ratings from the mid-1950s through 1970. The series originated in New York City, but filming moved to Miami Beach , Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there. Among his notable film roles were Minnesota Fats in 1961's The Hustler (co-starring with Paul Newman ) and Buford T. Justice in
4752-555: A veteran itinerant stage actress who longs for a settled domestic life but soon realizes that that lifestyle is actually ill-suited for her personality. In her last years, Kelton was strongly identified with Spic and Span because of commercials for the product. Pert Kelton was part owner of the Warner-Kelton Hotel, built in the late 1920s, at 6326 Lexington Avenue in Los Angeles. Kelton and her parents resided in
4896-581: A week. By age 24, Gleason appeared in films: first for Warner Brothers (as Jackie C. Gleason) in such films as Navy Blues (1941) with Ann Sheridan and Martha Raye and All Through the Night (1941) with Humphrey Bogart ; then for Columbia Pictures for the B military comedy Tramp, Tramp, Tramp ; and finally for Twentieth Century-Fox , where Gleason played Glenn Miller Orchestra bassist Ben Beck in Orchestra Wives (1942). He also had
5040-444: Is "on stage" inside the normal backdrop. Played by Jackie Gleason , a bus driver for the fictional Gotham Bus Company based in New York City. He is never seen driving a bus (except in publicity photos), but he sometimes is shown at the bus depot. Ralph is frustrated by his lack of success and often develops get-rich-quick schemes . He is short-tempered, frequently resorting to bellowing, insults, and hollow threats. Well hidden beneath
5184-414: Is finally used. In July 1950, Jackie Gleason became the host of Cavalcade of Stars , a variety show that aired on the struggling DuMont Television Network . After the first year, he and his writers Harry Crane and Joe Bigelow developed a sketch that drew upon familiar domestic situations for its material. Based on the popular radio show The Bickersons , Gleason wanted a realistic portrayal of life for
5328-423: Is levelheaded, in contrast to Ralph's pattern of inventing various schemes to enhance his wealth or his pride. She sees his schemes' unworkability, but he becomes angry and ignores her advice (and by the end of the episode, her misgivings almost always prove correct). Upon discovering the failures of his schemes and subsequent cover-ups, she demands to Ralph: "Oh, how I wish you had an explanation for that." Alice runs
5472-478: Is mentioned in only one episode ("Young Man with a Horn") as having given Ralph a cornet he learned to play as a boy, and Ralph insists on keeping the cornet when Alice suggests it be thrown away. The Ralph Kramden character was given honorary membership in the real New York City bus drivers' union (Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union ) during the run of the show, and a Brooklyn bus depot
5616-478: Is the inspiration for Betty Rubble in The Flintstones . Elaine Stritch was the first and original Trixie Norton in a Honeymooners sketch ("The New Television") with Gleason, Carney, and Pert Kelton . Trixie's abrasive ex-burlesque-dancer character was rewritten and recast by Gleason after just one episode, with Joyce Randolph playing the character as a wholesome housewife. Joyce Randolph played
5760-706: The Smokey and the Bandit trilogy from 1977 to 1983 (co-starring Burt Reynolds ). Gleason enjoyed a prominent secondary music career during the 1950s and 1960s, producing a series of bestselling "mood music" albums. His first album Music for Lovers Only still holds the record for the longest stay on the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums sold over a million copies each. His output includes more than 20 singles, nearly 60 long-playing record albums, and more than 40 CDs. Gleason
5904-637: The Museum of Television and Radio in New York City, aired on the Showtime cable network in 1985, and later were added to the Honeymooners syndication package. Some of them include earlier versions of plot lines later used in the 'classic 39' episodes. One (a Christmas episode duplicated several years later with Meadows as Alice) had all Gleason's best-known characters (Ralph Kramden, the Poor Soul, Rudy
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6048-402: The blue-collar existence of its characters. The Kramdens lived in a small, sparsely furnished two-room apartment in a tenement building at least four stories high (the Kramdens lived on the third floor and the Nortons lived one floor above them). They used the single main room as the kitchen, dining and living room. It consisted of a table and chairs, a chest of drawers, a curtainless window with
6192-406: The "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time". According to Entertainment Weekly , Norton is ranked 8th of the "greatest sidekicks ever". Thelma "Trixie" Norton was Ed's wife and Alice's best friend. She did not appear in every episode and had a less developed character, though she is shown to be somewhat bossy toward her husband. In one episode, she surprisingly is depicted as a pool hustler. Trixie
6336-463: The "lost" Honeymooners episodes from the variety shows were released. The first episode of the new half-hour series aired on Saturday, October 1, 1955, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time opposite Ozark Jubilee on ABC and The Perry Como Show on NBC . Because the show was sponsored by Buick, the opening credits originally ended with a sponsor identification by announcer Jack Lescoulie ("Brought to you by your Buick dealer. And away we go!"), and
6480-469: 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
6624-621: The 1939 film Whispering Enemies , she redirected her career, returning again to theatre and to performing increasingly on radio and later on the rapidly expanding medium of television. She did not return to the "big screen" until 1962, when she was cast as Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man . By April 1940, Pert had left California and was living in New York City again, sharing a $ 65-per-month apartment in Manhattan on West 55th Street with three other women, two of whom were employed as dancers in
6768-402: The 1954–55 season, most episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show consisted entirely of "The Honeymooners". Fan response became overwhelming, and Meadows received hundreds of curtains and aprons in the mail from fans who wanted to help Alice lead a fancier life. By January 1955, The Jackie Gleason Show was competing with—and sometimes beating— I Love Lucy as the most-watched television show in
6912-481: The 1957 world-tour episodes, in which Kramden and Norton win a slogan contest and take their wives to international destinations. Each of the nine episodes was a full-scale musical comedy, with Gleason and company performing original songs by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. Occasionally Gleason would devote the show to musicals with a single theme, such as college comedy or political satire, with the stars abandoning their Honeymooners roles for different character roles. This
7056-593: The 1960s; Gleason often kidded with his music directors during his opening monologs. He continued developing comic characters, including: 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. Gleason disliked rehearsing. Using photographic memory he read
7200-458: The 1966-1970 color hour shows were released on DVD as The Color Honeymooners . One notable 1967 segment featured the return of Pert Kelton (in one of her last performances before her death in 1968), but as Alice's mother. Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason , was an American actor, comedian, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed
7344-481: The 1978 The Honeymooners Christmas special (who was in reality just three years older than her "daughter", Alice). Strangely, Heckart's character makes several comments in the episode alluding to her desire to become a grandmother by Ralph and Alice, this despite the fact that Meadows, who played Alice, was in fact 55 years old at that time. The Kramdens and Nortons lived in an apartment house at 328 Chauncey Street in Brooklyn, New York City in an area known as Bushwick,
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#17327979371957488-538: The American vernacular, first uttered in the 1963 film Papa's Delicate Condition : "How sweet it is!" The Jackie Gleason Show: The American Scene Magazine was a hit that continued for four seasons. Each show began with Gleason delivering a monolog and commenting on the attention-getting outfits of band leader Sammy Spear . Then the "magazine" features would be trotted out, from Hollywood gossip (reported by comedian Barbara Heller) to news flashes (played for laughs with
7632-501: The Bartender and Reginald Van Gleason III) in a television special with Julie Andrews . In a song-and-dance routine, the two performed "Take Me Along" from Gleason's Broadway musical. In 1985, three decades after the "Classic 39" began filming, Gleason revealed he had carefully preserved kinescopes of his live 1950s programs in a vault for future use (including Honeymooners sketches with Pert Kelton as Alice). These "lost episodes" (as they came to be called) were initially previewed at
7776-568: The Halsey Theater, where Gleason replaced his friend Sammy Birch as master of ceremonies. He performed the same duties twice a week at the Folly Theater. Gleason was 19 when his mother died in 1935 from complications of sepsis from a large neck carbuncle that young Jackie had tried to lance. He had nowhere to go and 36 cents to his name. The family of his first girlfriend, Julie Dennehy, offered to take him in; Gleason, however,
7920-733: The Kramden apartment is 3B. The actual 328 Chauncey Street is located in the Stuyvesant Heights section of the borough, approximately eight miles northeast of the show's fictional location. Most of The Honeymooners takes place in Ralph and Alice Kramden's small, sparsely furnished two-room apartment. Other settings used in the show included the Gotham Bus Company depot, the Raccoon Lodge, a neighborhood pool parlor,
8064-488: The Kramdens and Nortons touring Europe after winning a contest. Live musicals had become popular on live television following the success of the 1954-1955 live broadcasts of Mary Martin in Peter Pan as well as that of several Max Leibman original musicals. Including the musical episodes, a total of 20 Skits of various lengths were performed that season, including restaging of several older skits. (One episode, featuring
8208-462: The New York City sewer department, and described his job as a "Sub-supervisor in the sub-division of the department of subterranean sanitation, I just keep things moving along." He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and used his G.I. Bill money to pay for typing school, but felt he was unable to work in an office because he hated working in confined spaces. The relatively few scenes set in
8352-627: The Norton apartment showed it to have the same layout as the Kramdens' but more nicely furnished. Though Norton makes the same weekly $ 62 salary as Ralph (roughly $ 710 in 2023 dollars), their higher standard of living might be explained by Norton's freer use of credit; at one point he admits to having 19 charge accounts. Ed is the inspiration for Barney Rubble in The Flintstones , and for Yogi Bear (in terms of design, clothing, and mannerisms). In 1999, TV Guide ranked him 2nd on its list of
8496-402: The Raccoon Lodge president. Ronnie Burns , son of George Burns and Gracie Allen , made a guest appearance on one episode. On another episode, Norton makes a reference to a co-worker "Nat Birnbaum" (as in "'nat," a three-letter word for bug," says crossword puzzle aficionado Norton). George Burns 's real name was Nathan Birnbaum. Seasoned actress Eileen Heckart appeared as Alice's mother in
8640-625: The Repairman, Reginald Van Gleason, Fenwick Babbitt and Joe the Bartender) featured in and outside of the Kramden apartment. The storyline involved a wild Christmas party hosted by Reginald Van Gleason up the block from the Kramdens' building at Joe the Bartender's place. Gleason did not restrict his acting to comedic roles. He had also earned acclaim for live television drama performances in "The Laugh Maker" (1953) on CBS's Studio One and William Saroyan 's " The Time of Your Life " (1958), which
8784-462: The U.S. entertainment industry. Kelton sued the publication for libel, but later dropped the suit. In his book The Forgotten Network , David Weinstein wrote Kelton remained on Cavalcade of Stars through the final season of the series (1951–1952), and suggests that it may have been because Jackie Gleason had resisted attempts at having her dropped. In the 1960s, Kelton was invited back to Gleason's CBS show to play Alice's mother in an episode of
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#17327979371958928-513: The United States. Audience members would queue around the block hours in advance in order to attend the show. The "Classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners are those that originally aired as a weekly half-hour sitcom on CBS from October 1955 to September 1956. Before Gleason's initial three-year contract with CBS expired, he was offered a much larger contract by CBS and General Motors ' Buick division. The three-year contract, reportedly valued at $ 11 million (about $ 125 million now),
9072-433: The apartment when Ed irritates him. In most episodes, Ed is shown to be better-read, better-liked, more worldly and more even-tempered than Ralph, despite his unassuming manner and the fact that he usually lets Ralph take the lead in their escapades. Ed and Ralph both are members of the fictional Raccoon Lodge. Like Ralph, Ed enjoys and is good at bowling and playing pool. Unlike Ralph, Ed is good at ping-pong . Ed worked for
9216-536: The best lines, surprisingly wicked and amusing observations that would never be allowed in an American film after the Hollywood Production Code was adopted. Nevertheless, in 1933 her performance in Bed of Roses was widely praised by critics in leading newspapers and trade papers . Kelton for the remainder of the 1930s performed in over 20 more feature films and shorts . After her appearance in
9360-563: The booze." Rodney Dangerfield wrote that he witnessed Gleason purchasing marijuana in the 1940s. Gleason's first significant recognition as an entertainer came on Broadway when he appeared in the hit musical Follow the Girls (1944). While working in films in California, Gleason also worked at former boxer Maxie Rosenbloom 's nightclub (Slapsy Maxie's, on Wilshire Boulevard ). Gleason's big break occurred in 1949 when he landed
9504-618: The characters until 1978. The Honeymooners was one of the first U.S. television shows to portray working-class married couples in a gritty, non-idyllic manner, as the show is mostly set in the Kramdens' kitchen in a neglected Brooklyn apartment building. One of the sponsors of the show was Buick . The majority of The Honeymooners episodes focus on four principal characters and generally use fixed sets within their Brooklyn apartment building. Although various secondary characters make multiple appearances, and occasional exterior shots are incorporated during editing, virtually all action and dialogue
9648-428: 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
9792-403: 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 . 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
9936-487: The entire year of 1939, a total time of employment far less than the weeks worked by her roommates over the same period. Once Kelton had resettled in New York during the early 1940s, she began to work in theatre again, and she became a familiar voice on radio as well, performing on programs such as Easy Aces , It's Always Albert , The Stu Erwin Show , and on the 1941 soap opera We Are Always Young . Later, In 1949, she did
10080-710: 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
10224-558: The era. All 39 episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed at the DuMont Television Network's Adelphi Theatre at 152 West 54th Street in Manhattan before an audience of 1,000. Episodes were never fully rehearsed because Gleason felt that rehearsals would rob the show of its spontaneity. As a result, mistakes often were made, with lines recited incorrectly or altogether forgotten, and actors did not always follow
10368-442: The executives' opinion, too old an audience. Gleason simply stopped doing the show in 1970 and left CBS when his contract expired. Gleason did two Jackie Gleason Show specials for CBS after giving up his regular show in the 1970s, including Honeymooners segments and a Reginald Van Gleason III sketch in which the gregarious millionaire was portrayed as a comic drunk. When the CBS deal expired, Gleason signed with NBC . He later did
10512-421: The fictitious American Scene magazine, holding a copy across the bar. It had two covers: one featured the New York skyline and the other palm trees (after the show moved to Florida). Joe would bring out Frank Fontaine as Crazy Guggenheim, who would regale Joe with the latest adventures of his neighborhood pals and sometimes show Joe his current Top Cat comic book. Joe usually asked Crazy to sing—almost always
10656-524: The film sings to a rowdy, appreciative crowd in an energetic dive , using a curious New York accent to good comedic effect, with Beery and Raft arguing afterwards over her attentions. In Gregory LaCava 's 1933 pre-Code comedy Bed of Roses , Kelton plays Minnie, a witty prostitute who is a partner in crime with Lorry, portrayed by Constance Bennett . The two women in the plot are fond of getting admiring men helplessly drunk before robbing them, at least until getting caught and tossed into jail. Kelton has all
10800-406: The film; the scene at the "Choke and Puke" was Gleason's idea. Reynolds and Needham knew Gleason's comic talent would help make the film a success, and Gleason's characterization of Sheriff Justice strengthened the film's appeal to blue-collar audiences. Pert Kelton Pert L. Kelton (October 14, 1907 – October 30, 1968) was an American stage, movie, radio, and television actress. She
10944-606: The films Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). He co-starred with Burt Reynolds as the Bandit, Sally Field as Carrie (the Bandit's love interest), and Jerry Reed as Cledus "Snowman" Snow, the Bandit's truck-driving partner. Former NFL linebacker Mike Henry played his dimwitted son, Junior Justice. Gleason's gruff and frustrated demeanor and lines such as "I'm gonna barbecue yo' ass in molasses!" made
11088-399: The finances of the Kramden household, and Ralph frequently has to beg her for money to pay for his lodge dues or crazy schemes. Alice studied to be a secretary before her marriage and works briefly in that capacity when Ralph is laid off. Wilma Flintstone is based on Alice Kramden. Another foil for Ralph is Alice's mother, who is even sharper-tongued than her daughter and despises Ralph as
11232-407: The first Bandit movie a hit. Years later, when interviewed by Larry King , Reynolds said he agreed to do the film only if the studio hired Jackie Gleason to play the part of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (the name of a real Florida highway patrolman, who knew Reynolds' father). Reynolds said that director Hal Needham gave Gleason free rein to ad-lib a great deal of his dialog and make suggestions for
11376-739: The golf course at the nearby Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill (where he built his final home). His closing line became, almost invariably, "As always, the Miami Beach audience is the greatest audience in the world!" In 1966, he abandoned the American Scene Magazine format and converted the show into a standard variety hour with guest performers. Gleason kicked off the 1966–1967 season with new, color episodes of The Honeymooners . Carney returned as Ed Norton, with MacRae as Alice and Kean as Trixie. The sketches were remakes of
11520-463: The group's recordings, was not paid as session-leader. Cornetist and trumpeter Bobby Hackett soloed on several of Gleason's albums and was leader for seven of them. Asked late in life by musician–journalist Harry Currie in Toronto what Gleason really did at the recording sessions, Hackett replied, "He brought the checks". But years earlier Hackett had glowingly told writer James Bacon: Jackie knows
11664-707: The half-hour Honeymooners in syndicated reruns that began to build a loyal and growing audience, making the show a television 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
11808-550: The hotel during the late 1920s until at least 1930. (A February 20, 1928, article in the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) incorrectly identifies the hotel as the Walton-Kelton Hotel.) The hotel catered to actors, poets, and musicians, such as Cary Grant , Orry Kelly , Rodgers and Hart , Monroe Salisbury , Sadakichi Hartmann , and later, Elizabeth Short . The building had a small outdoor theater, in
11952-417: The hour-long musical version of The Honeymooners (also known as The Color Honeymooners ), with Sheila MacRae as a fetching young Alice. In 1963, Kelton appeared on The Twilight Zone , playing the overbearing mother of Robert Duvall in the episode " Miniature ." The next year she guest-starred on the popular family sitcom My Three Sons . In this episode "Stage Door Bub", Kelton portrays Thelma Wilson,
12096-555: The image-conscious realm of entertainment, "shaved" a few years off her age when answering census questions at that time. Her documented lack of consistent employment during the previous year may be indicative too of the professional pressures she was experiencing after her film career in Hollywood began to wane in the late 1930s. According to the United States Census of 1940, Kelton was employed for only six weeks during
12240-604: The insurance company. Once it became evident that he was not coming back, Mae went to work as a subway attendant for the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). After his father abandoned the family, young Gleason began hanging around with a local gang, hustling pool. He attended P.S. 73 Elementary School in Brooklyn, John Adams High School in Queens, and Bushwick High School in Brooklyn. Gleason became interested in performing after being part of
12384-431: The intent to share it. By the next week's show, the set is gone although in later episodes a set is shown in the Nortons' apartment. In the installment "The Baby Sitter", the Kramdens get a telephone, but in the next episode, it is gone. And, in the episode, "A Dog's Life", Alice gets a dog from the pound which Ralph tries to return. But, in the end, Ralph finds himself growing to love the dog and decides to keep it along with
12528-709: The latter half of 1927. Her first credited movie role there was as Rosie in First National Pictures ' 1929 release Sally , based on the Broadway hit by the same name. The federal census of 1930 showed that Kelton was living in Los Angeles at the Warner-Kelton Hotel – later called the Hotel Brevoort (and Tropical Gardens) – sharing room 666. That same census identifies all three of the Keltons as employed actors in "motion pictures". Kelton
12672-451: The majority of arrangements heard on many of Gleason's albums of the 1950s and 1960s. Williams was not given credit for his work until the early 1960s, albeit only in small print on the backs of album covers . Gleason's lead role in the musical Take Me Along (1959–60) won him a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical . In 1956 Gleason revived his original variety hour (including The Honeymooners ), winning
12816-489: The many layers of bluster, however, is a softhearted man who loves his wife and is devoted to his best friend, Ed Norton. Ralph enjoys bowling and playing pool; he is proficient at both and is an enthusiastic member of the Loyal Order of Raccoons (although in several episodes, a blackboard at the lodge lists his dues as being in arrears). Ralph's mother rarely is mentioned, although she appears in one episode. Ralph's father
12960-404: 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 blacklisted , the tone of
13104-752: The most number-one albums on the Billboard 200 without charting any hits on the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Gleason could not read or write music; he was said to have conceived melodies in his head and described them vocally to assistants who transcribed them into musical notes. These included the well-remembered themes of both The Jackie Gleason Show ("Melancholy Serenade") and The Honeymooners ("You're My Greatest Love"). In spite of period accounts establishing his direct involvement in musical production, varying opinions have appeared over
13248-452: The orchestra leader for Gleason's variety show as well as for The Ed Sullivan Show . Although lyrics were composed, they were never sung. Sammy Spear, who later became Gleason's musical director, provided the arrangement. The music heard in the episodes was not performed during the show, so to enhance the feeling of a live performance for the studio audience, an orchestra performed before filming and during breaks. The show's original announcer
13392-539: The original sketches, generally running about 10 to 20 minutes, shorter than the later one-season half-hour series episodes and 1960s hour-long musical versions. However, she was abruptly dropped from her role due to being blacklisted and was replaced by Audrey Meadows . Rather than acknowledge that she was blacklisted, her producers explained that her departure was based on alleged heart problems. Kelton and her husband had been listed in Red Channels , an early 1950s publication of alleged communists or fellow travelers in
13536-630: The other three. Each episode presented a self-contained story, which rarely carried over into a subsequent one. The show employed a number of standard sitcom clichés and plots, particularly those of jealousy , get-rich-quick schemes, and comic misunderstanding. As to the occasional plot continuations, there were two such sequences — one concerning Ralph being sent to a psychiatrist because of "impatient" behavior during work that resulted in several passengers lodging complaints about his professional demeanor, and one that continued for two sequential shows in which Aunt Ethel visited and Ralph hatched
13680-531: The poor reception of Gigot and Skidoo, the studio refused to offer Gleason the lead; he wanted it. Instead, Gleason wound up in How to Commit Marriage (1969) with Bob Hope , as well as the movie version of Woody Allen 's play Don't Drink the Water (1969). Both were unsuccessful. Eight years passed before Gleason had another hit film. This role was the cantankerous and cursing Texas sheriff Buford T. Justice in
13824-407: The program became the country's second-highest-rated television show during the 1954–55 season. 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
13968-520: The relative success of the eight-episode talk show that Gleason used to fill its time slot, his variety show returned in 1962 under the title Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine . The "Honeymooners" sketches returned as part of the show whenever Carney was available. However, Meadows and Randolph were replaced by Sue Ane Langdon and Patricia Wilson for two sketches. In January 1966, Meadows returned on Gleason's American Scene Magazine variety series as Alice for "The Honeymooners: The Adoption",
14112-426: The road show production of Olsen and Johnson 's New 1943 Hellzapoppin . He also became known for hosting all-night parties in his hotel suite; the hotel soundproofed his suite out of consideration for its other guests. "Anyone who knew Jackie Gleason in the 1940s", wrote CBS historian Robert Metz, "would tell you The Fat Man would never make it. His pals at Lindy's watched him spend money as fast as he soaked up
14256-534: The role in earlier sketches and on the 1955–56 sitcom The Honeymooners Jane Kean played the role in a series of hour-long Honeymooners episodes, in color and with music, on The Jackie Gleason Show from 1966 to 1970, playing the role for many more years than her predecessor. Some of the actors who appeared multiple times on the show include George O. Petrie and Frank Marth as various characters, Ethel Owen as Alice's mother, Zamah Cunningham as apartment building neighbor Mrs. Manicotti, and Cliff Hall as
14400-466: The role of 'Mrs. Paroo' in the original production of the musical The Music Man , which she reprised in the movie adaptation . In the early 1950s, her career was interrupted as a result of Hollywood blacklisting , leading to her departure from The Honeymooners . Pert L. Kelton was born in 1907 in Great Falls, Montana. Her mother, Sue Kelton, was a native of Canada; her father, Edward Kelton,
14544-492: The role of Alice Kramden, Ralph's acerbic and long-suffering wife. "The Honeymooners" debuted on October 5, 1951 as a six-minute sketch. Ensemble cast member Art Carney made a brief appearance as a police officer who is hit with flour that Ralph throws from the window. The tone of these early sketches was much darker than that of the later series, with Ralph exhibiting great bitterness and frustration with his marriage to an equally bitter and argumentative middle-aged woman (Kelton
14688-452: 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 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
14832-419: The role of blunt but softhearted aircraft worker Chester A. Riley for the first television version of the radio comedy The Life of Riley . ( William Bendix had originated the role on radio but was initially unable to accept the television role because of film commitments.) Despite positive reviews, the show received modest ratings and was canceled after one year. Bendix did resume the role beginning in 1953 for
14976-578: The roles of the wives but was adamant that the Ed Norton role should never be played by anyone other than Carney. The 1966 videotaped "Honeymooners" were also musical episodes that comprised 18 of the first season's 32 shows. Most of these were updated remakes of 1956-57 musical episodes with songs by Duddy and Bresler, expanded with new material. This include an addition episode added to the "Trip To Europe" sketches. Ten of these programs were syndicated for local stations as The Honeymooners Go to Europe and
15120-417: The romance was, in his words, "magnified a thousand percent" by background music. Gleason reasoned, "If Gable needs music, a guy in Brooklyn must be desperate !" Gleason's first album, Music for Lovers Only , still holds the record for the longest stay on the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks), and his first ten albums sold over a million copies each. At one point, Gleason held the record for charting
15264-666: 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. 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
15408-563: The scripted action directions. To compensate, the cast developed visual cues for each other. For example, Gleason patted his stomach when he forgot a line, while Meadows would glance at the icebox when someone else was supposed to retrieve something from it. In contrast to other popular comedies of the era (such as Father Knows Best , Leave It to Beaver and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ), which depicted their characters in comfortable, middle-class suburban environments, Richard Rychtarik 's set design for The Honeymooners reflected
15552-471: The show concluded with a brief Gleason sales pitch for the company, all common practices at the time. All references to Buick were removed when the show entered syndication in 1957, although Gleason frequently said "And away we go!" frequently in various shows, and the quote is inscribed on his gravestone. The initial critical reaction to the half-hour sitcom Honeymooners was mixed. The New York Times and Broadcasting & Telecasting Magazine wrote that it
15696-610: The show with $ 7 million remaining on his contract, Gleason said, "The excellence of the material could not be maintained, and I had too much fondness for the show to cheapen it." Gleason subsequently sold the films of the "Classic 39" episodes of the show to CBS for $ 1.5 million. In 1955, many television shows (including The Jackie Gleason Show ) were performed live and recorded using kinescope technology, although many sitcoms were recorded on film, such as Amos 'n' Andy , The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , My Little Margie and I Married Joan . I Love Lucy , which
15840-545: The song by the movie's character "Sir Smoka-Alot". Played by Art Carney ; a New York City municipal sewer worker and Ralph's best friend (and upstairs neighbor). He is considerably more good-natured than Ralph, but nonetheless trades insults with him on a regular basis. Ed (typically called "Norton" by Ralph and sometimes by his own wife, Trixie) often gets mixed up in Ralph's schemes. His carefree and rather dimwitted nature usually results in raising Ralph's ire, while Ralph often showers him with verbal abuse and throws him out of
15984-464: The summer of 1952, and the financially struggling network (which suffered through ten rounds of layoffs from July through October 1953) was unable to retain him, and he moved to CBS. In July 1952, CBS president William S. Paley sent Gleason and his cast on a highly successful nationwide five-week promotional tour, performing musical numbers and sketches (including the popular "The Honeymooners"). However, Kelton who played Alice Kramden and other roles,
16128-423: The theatre and the third as a secretary. A federal census taker canvassing Manhattan that year concisely identified Kelton in his enumeration ledger as "Actress, Theatre & Movies" and recorded her given age as only 28, although in the spring of 1940 Kelton was actually 32 years old. If not a mistake in documentation, it is possible that Kelton herself, feeling the pressures to maintain a youthful profile within
16272-674: The voices of five different radio characters on The Milton Berle Show . She was also a regular cast member of The Henry Morgan Show ; and in the early 1950s, she performed the role of the tart maid Agnes in the Monty Woolley vehicle The Magnificent Montague , along with reprising her Berle show role of Martha Harrison, who never said anything but "Yeeessss!" Kelton appeared in Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt , first aired January 26, 1951, hosted by Henry Morgan , and with Kaye Ballard , Art Carney , and Arnold Stang . Kelton
16416-421: The years as to how much credit Gleason should have received for the finished products. Biographer William A. Henry wrote in his 1992 book, The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason , that beyond the possible conceptualizing of many of the song melodies, Gleason had no direct involvement (such as conducting) in making the recordings. Red Nichols , a jazz great who had fallen on hard times and led one of
16560-557: The youth-protest movement of the late 1960s, a sign of changing times in both television and society. Gleason (who had signed a deal in the 1950s that included a guaranteed $ 100,000 annual payment for 20 years, even if he never went on the air) wanted The Honeymooners to be just a portion of his format, but CBS wanted another season of only The Honeymooners . The network had canceled a mainstay variety show hosted by Red Skelton and would cancel The Ed Sullivan Show in 1971 because they had become too expensive to produce and attracted, in
16704-522: Was Jack Lescoulie , who also was a spokesman for the sponsor, Buick. For the unsponsored syndicated version, the introduction was voiced by CBS staff announcer Gaylord Avery. On September 29, 1956, one week after The Honeymooners ended as a weekly 30-minute series, The Jackie Gleason Show returned. "The Honeymooners" returned as part of the revived variety show. Eight episodes were produced as original full hour "Honeymooners" musicals with music and lyrics by Lyn Duddy and Jerry Bresler. The stories featured
16848-463: Was blacklisted and replaced on the tour by Beulah actress Ginger Jones, who also became blacklisted (having earlier been named on the Red Channels blacklist ) by CBS. As a result, yet another Alice was needed. Jones's replacement was Audrey Meadows , known for her work in the 1951 Broadway musical Top Banana and on the Bob & Ray television show. However, Gleason was concerned that Meadows
16992-711: Was "labored" and lacked the spontaneity of the live sketches. But TV Guide praised it as "rollicking", "slapsticky" and "fast-paced". In February 1956, the show was moved to the 8:00 p.m. ET timeslot, but it already had begun losing viewers to the hugely popular Perry Como Show . Gleason's writers also had begun to feel confined by the restrictive half-hour format—in previous seasons, "The Honeymooners" sketches typically ran 35 minutes or more—and Gleason felt that were beginning to exhaust original ideas. After just one season, Gleason and CBS agreed to cancel The Honeymooners , which aired its 39th and final original episode on September 22, 1956. In explaining his decision to end
17136-595: Was a box office flop. But the film's script was adapted and produced as the television film The Wool Cap (2004), starring William H. Macy in the role of the mute janitor; the television film received modestly good reviews. Gleason played the lead in the Otto Preminger -directed Skidoo (1968), considered an all-star failure. In 1969 William Friedkin wanted to cast Gleason as "Popeye" Doyle in The French Connection (1971), but because of
17280-642: Was a young comedienne in A-list movies during the 1930s, often portraying the leading lady's wisecracking friend. She had a memorable turn in 1933 as dance hall singer "Trixie" in The Bowery alongside Wallace Beery , George Raft , Jackie Cooper , and Fay Wray . Directed by Raoul Walsh , the film is based on the story of Steve Brodie , the first man who reportedly jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and lived to brag about it. Kelton at one point in
17424-663: Was born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr. on February 26, 1916, at 364 Chauncey Street in the Stuyvesant Heights (now Bedford–Stuyvesant ) section of Brooklyn . He was later baptized as John Herbert Gleason and grew up at 328 Chauncey Street, Apartment 1A (an address he later used for Ralph and Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners ). His parents were Herbert Walton "Herb" Gleason (1883–1964), born in New York City to an Irish father and an American mother, and Mae Agnes "Maisie" ( née Kelly; 1886–1935), an Irish immigrant from Farranree , County Cork. Gleason
17568-404: Was due to the fact that her husband Ralph had, many years earlier, marched in a May Day parade. "Ralph, I knew, had absolutely no leftist connections whatever but had simply thrown himself in with a gang of actors protesting whatever it was that year, and Pert had never even voted in her life." The character's name is mentioned in the 1998 American stoner comedy film Half Baked in the lyrics to
17712-548: Was enrolled in private schools for her early formal education and for extensive training in dance, voice, and drama. By age 12, after appearing for a while with her parents as "The Three Keltons", she began appearing as a solo act or "single" in vaudeville; and by age 17 she was performing on Broadway, initially as a cast member in Jerome Kern 's 1925 musical comedy Sunny , starring Marilyn Miller . Kelton and her parents had moved to California to work in Hollywood films by
17856-591: Was extremely well-received as a beleaguered boxing manager in the film version of Rod Serling 's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Gleason played a world-weary army sergeant in Soldier in the Rain (1963), in which he received top billing over Steve McQueen . Gleason wrote, produced and starred in Gigot (1962), in which he played a poor, mute janitor who befriended and rescued a prostitute and her small daughter. It
18000-440: 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. 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 ,
18144-541: Was followed the next week by a broadcast of Gleason's humorous half-hour apology, which was much better appreciated. For the rest of its scheduled run, the game show was replaced by a talk show named The Jackie Gleason Show . In 1962, Gleason resurrected his variety show with more splashiness and a new hook: a fictitious general-interest magazine called The American Scene Magazine , through which Gleason trotted out his old characters in new scenarios, including two new Honeymooners sketches. He also added another catchphrase to
18288-541: Was handled by Jackie Gleason Enterprises Inc., which also produced Stage Show , a program that aired directly before episodes of The Honeymooners and starred the Dorsey Brothers . Meadows, who later became a banker, was reportedly the only cast member to receive residuals when the "Classic 39" episodes were rebroadcast in syndication because her brother Edward, a lawyer, had inserted language to that effect into her contract. Randolph received royalty payments when
18432-481: Was headstrong and insisted that he was going into the heart of the city. His friend Birch made room for him in the hotel room he shared with another comedian. Birch also told him of a week-long gig in Reading, Pennsylvania , which would pay $ 19—more money than Gleason could imagine (equivalent to $ 422 in 2023). The booking agent advanced his bus fare for the trip against his salary, granting Gleason his first job as
18576-520: Was named in Gleason's honor after his death. Ralph Kramden was the inspiration for the animated character Fred Flintstone . An eight-foot-tall bronze statue of a jolly Jackie Gleason in a bus driver's uniform was erected in 1999 in front of Manhattan's midtown Port Authority Bus Terminal. TV Land funded the statue in cooperation with Gleason's estate and the Port Authority . Also in 1999, Ralph
18720-420: Was nerveless and numb), that a pilonidal cyst existed at the end of his coccyx , and that he was 100 pounds overweight. Gleason was, therefore, classified 4-F and rejected for military service. Gleason did not initially make a strong impression on Hollywood; at the time, he developed a nightclub act that included comedy and music. At the end of 1942, Gleason and Lew Parker led a large cast of entertainers in
18864-416: Was nine years older than was Gleason). The Kramdens' financial struggles mirrored those of Gleason's early life in Brooklyn, and he took great pains to model the set on his memory of the apartment where he had lived. The Kramdens—and later the Nortons when those characters were added—are childless, an issue only occasionally explored, but a condition upon which Gleason insisted. Ralph and Alice did legally adopt
19008-414: Was now in place. The increasingly popular "The Honeymooners" sketches were prominent in episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show variety show. During the first season, they appeared on a regular basis (although not weekly) as a series of short sketches ranging in length from seven to thirteen minutes. For the 1953–54 season, the shorter sketches were outnumbered by ones that ran for 30 minutes or longer. During
19152-569: Was one of the largest in showbusiness history at the time. It called for Gleason to produce 78 filmed episodes of The Honeymooners over two seasons, with an option for a third season of 39 more. He was scheduled to receive $ 65,000 for each episode ($ 737,000 now) and $ 70,000 per episode in the second season ($ 794,000 now), but he had to pay all production costs out of that amount. Art Carney received $ 3,500 per week ($ 40,000 now), Audrey Meadows $ 2,000 ($ 23,000 now), and Joyce Randolph (who did not appear in every episode) $ 500 per week ($ 5,700 now). Production
19296-498: Was originally portrayed by Elaine Stritch as a burlesque dancer, but was replaced after just one appearance by the more wholesome-looking Joyce Randolph . Trixie is a foil to Ed, just as Alice is to Ralph, but often offscreen. With the colorful array of characters whom Gleason had invented, including the cast of "The Honeymooners" sketches, Cavalcade of Stars became a great success for DuMont and increased its audience share from 9% to 25%. Gleason's contract with DuMont expired in
19440-514: Was produced as an episode of the anthology series Playhouse 90 . He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of pool shark Minnesota Fats in The Hustler (1961), starring Paul Newman . Gleason made all his own trick pool shots. In his 1985 appearance on The Tonight Show , Gleason told Johnny Carson that he had played pool frequently since childhood, and drew from those experiences in The Hustler . He
19584-402: Was ranked #13 on TV Guide' s list of the 50 greatest TV characters. Alice (née Alice Gibson), played in the first nine skits from 1951 to January 1952 by Pert Kelton , by Audrey Meadows until 1966, then by Sheila MacRae , is Ralph's patient but sharp-tongued wife of 14 years. She often finds herself bearing the brunt of Ralph's tantrums and demands, which she returns with biting sarcasm. She
19728-549: Was recorded directly onto 35mm film , had influenced television production companies to produce directly on film. For The Honeymooners , Gleason utilized the Electronicam TV film system, developed by DuMont in the early 1950s, which allowed for a live performance to be directly captured on film. As a result of the superior picture and sound quality afforded by the system, episodes of The Honeymooners were much more suitable for rebroadcast than were most other live shows of
19872-418: Was seen to back down during any of Ralph's tirades. In retaliation, the targets of Ralph's verbal abuse often responded by simply joking about his weight, a common theme throughout the series. For the "Classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners , there was no continuing story arc. Each episode is self-contained. For example, in the series premiere episode "TV Or Not TV", Ralph and Norton buy a television set with
20016-420: Was simply abbreviated: as "Bang, zoom!") On other occasions, Ralph simply told Alice, "Oh, are you gonna get yours." All of this led to criticism, more than 40 years later, that the show displayed an ironic acceptance of domestic violence . But Ralph never carried out his threats, and others have pointed out that Alice knew he never would because of their deep love for each other — indeed, Alice never
20160-565: Was the original Alice Kramden in The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason . During the 1930s, she was a prominent comedic supporting and leading actress in Hollywood films such as Gregory La Cava 's Bed of Roses with Constance Bennett and Raoul Walsh 's The Bowery with Wallace Beery and George Raft (both released in 1933). She performed in a dozen Broadway productions between 1925 and 1968. Most famously, she created
20304-546: Was the original Alice Kramden in The Honeymooners comedy sketches on the DuMont Television Network 's Cavalcade of Stars . These sketches formed the eventual basis for the 1955 sitcom The Honeymooners . Jackie Gleason starred as her husband Ralph Kramden, and Art Carney as their upstairs neighbor Ed Norton. Elaine Stritch played Trixie, the burlesque dancer wife of Norton, for one sketch before being replaced by Joyce Randolph . Kelton appeared in
20448-498: Was the show's format until its cancellation in 1970. (The exception was the 1968–1969 season, which had no hour-long Honeymooners episodes; that season, The Honeymooners was presented only in short sketches.) The musicals pushed Gleason back into the top five in ratings, but audiences soon began to decline. By its final season, Gleason's show was no longer in the top 25. In the last original Honeymooners episode aired on CBS ("Operation Protest" on February 28, 1970), Ralph encounters
20592-534: Was the younger of two children; his elder brother, Clement, died from complications of meningitis at age 14 in 1919. Gleason remembered Clement and his father having "beautiful handwriting". He watched his father work at the family's kitchen table, writing insurance policies in the evenings. On the night of December 14, 1925, Gleason's father disposed of any family photos in which he appeared; just after noon on December 15, he collected his hat, coat, and paycheck, and permanently left his family and job at
20736-447: Was too attractive to make a credible Alice. To convince him, Meadows hired a photographer to take pictures of her in the early morning with no makeup, clad in a torn housecoat and with her hair undone. When Gleason saw the photos, he said, "That's our Alice." When he learned that it was Meadows in the photos, he reportedly said, "Any dame who has a sense of humor like that deserves the job." The lineup of Gleason, Carney, Meadows and Randolph
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