135-621: 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
270-426: 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
405-478: 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
540-526: 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;
675-612: A Drama Series (then for "In a Regular Series") at the 8th Primetime Emmy Awards . She lost to Nanette Fabray in Caesar's Hour . Meadows appeared in a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled " Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat ", one of the 17 episodes in the 10-year series directed by Hitchcock himself, and a rare light-hearted one. She appeared in feature films and appeared on Dean Martin 's television variety shows and celebrity roasts. She starred in an episode of Wagon Train in
810-437: 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
945-460: 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,
1080-588: 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
1215-417: 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
1350-534: 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
1485-420: 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
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#17328589596821620-575: 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
1755-525: 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
1890-466: 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
2025-430: A lawyer, had inserted a clause into her original contract whereby she would be paid if the shows were re-broadcast, thus earning her millions of dollars. When the "lost" Honeymooners episodes from the variety shows were later released, Joyce Randolph , who played Trixie Norton , received royalty payments. For her work on the show, Meadows was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in
2160-467: A long hiatus, when Gleason produced occasional Honeymooners specials in the 1970s. Meadows had auditioned for Gleason and was initially turned down for being too chic and pretty to play Alice. Realizing that she needed to change her appearance, Meadows the next day submitted a photo of herself, one in which she looked much plainer. Gleason changed his mind and she won the role of Alice. The character of Alice became more associated with Meadows than with
2295-482: 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
2430-412: 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
2565-460: 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
2700-532: 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
2835-455: 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
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#17328589596822970-407: 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
3105-516: 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
3240-457: 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
3375-428: 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
3510-601: 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
3645-421: 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
3780-545: 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
3915-545: 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
4050-596: 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
4185-662: 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
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4320-498: 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
4455-619: 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
4590-568: A wealthy real-estate businessman. On August 24, 1961, Meadows married her second husband, Robert F. Six , president of Continental Airlines , in Honolulu , Hawaii. He died on October 6, 1986. Meadows served as director of the First National Bank of Denver for 11 years, the first woman to hold the position. From 1961 to 1981, she was an advisory director of Continental Airlines, where she was actively involved in marketing programs that included
4725-570: 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
4860-444: 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
4995-414: 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
5130-423: 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
5265-468: 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
5400-471: 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
5535-688: 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
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5670-617: 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
5805-402: 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
5940-406: 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
6075-463: 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
6210-465: 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
6345-668: The 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners . She was the younger sister of Hollywood leading lady Jayne Meadows . Meadows was born Audrey Cotter in New York City in 1922, the youngest of four siblings. There was considerable confusion concerning her year of birth and place of birth for many years. Her parents, the Reverend Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, were Episcopal missionaries in Wuchang , Hubei, China, where her three elder siblings were born. Her older sister
6480-402: 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
6615-481: 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
6750-588: 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
6885-458: 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
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#17328589596827020-481: 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,
7155-533: 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
7290-501: 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
7425-554: 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,
7560-701: 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,
7695-483: 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
7830-456: 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
7965-616: 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
8100-402: 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
8235-615: 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
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#17328589596828370-513: 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),
8505-415: The actress who originated the role, Pert Kelton (who was 9 years older than Gleason), was forced to leave the show due to blacklisting (although the official reason given was that Kelton was suffering from a health problem). When The Honeymooners became a half-hour situation comedy on CBS , Meadows (who was 6 years younger than Gleason) continued in the role. She then returned to play Alice after
8640-433: 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
8775-553: 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
8910-618: 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
9045-428: 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
9180-403: 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
9315-476: The designs of flight attendant and customer-service agent uniforms, aircraft interiors and Continental's exclusive President's Club airport club lounges. In October 1994, Meadows published her memoirs, Love, Alice: My Life As A Honeymooner . A longtime smoker, Meadows was diagnosed with lung cancer and given a year to live in 1995. She declined all but palliative treatment and died on February 3, 1996, five days before her 74th birthday, after she slipped into
9450-558: The episode's titled role of Nancy Palmer. Years later Meadows returned to situation comedy, playing Ted Knight 's mother-in-law in Too Close for Comfort (1982–85). She guest-starred on The Red Skelton Show , made an appearance in an episode of Murder, She Wrote ("If the Frame Fits"), and made an appearance in an episode of The Simpsons (" Old Money "), wherein she voiced the role of Bea Simmons, Grampa Simpson 's girlfriend. During
9585-704: 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
9720-542: 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
9855-442: 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
9990-421: 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
10125-437: 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. Audrey Meadows Audrey Meadows (born Audrey Cotter ; February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress who portrayed the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on
10260-595: 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
10395-399: 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
10530-407: 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
10665-717: 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
10800-458: 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
10935-696: 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
11070-600: 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
11205-431: 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
11340-451: 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
11475-483: 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
11610-404: 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
11745-737: 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
11880-452: 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
12015-630: 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
12150-430: The others who played her, and she reprised her role as Alice on other shows as well, both in a man-on-the-street interview for The Steve Allen Show (Steve Allen was her brother-in-law) and in a parody sketch on The Jack Benny Program . Meadows was the only member of the Honeymooners cast to earn residuals after the "Classic 39" episodes of the show from 1955 to 1956 started airing in reruns. Her brother Edward,
12285-524: 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
12420-407: 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
12555-520: 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",
12690-426: 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
12825-534: 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
12960-492: 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
13095-452: 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
13230-419: 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
13365-573: 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
13500-417: 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
13635-659: 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
13770-563: 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
13905-430: The second year of her second retirement, she returned to television in 1988 on CBS Summer Playhouse . Her last work was an appearance on Dave's World , in which she played the mother of Kenny ( Shadoe Stevens ). In total, Meadows earned four Primetime Emmy nominations for her television work, winning one for The Jackie Gleason Show . In 1956 (during the run of The Honeymooners ), Meadows married Randolph Rouse,
14040-471: 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
14175-610: 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
14310-545: 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
14445-464: 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,
14580-421: 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
14715-557: 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
14850-522: 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
14985-460: 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
15120-711: 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
15255-579: 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
15390-657: Was actress Jayne Meadows , and she had two older brothers. The family returned permanently to the United States in 1927. Audrey attended high school at the Barrington School for Girls in Great Barrington, Massachusetts . After high school, Meadows sang in the Broadway musical Top Banana before becoming a regular on television in The Bob and Ray Show . She was then hired to play Alice on The Jackie Gleason Show after
15525-655: 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
15660-404: 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
15795-578: 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
15930-440: 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 ,
16065-541: 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
16200-534: 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
16335-476: 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
16470-508: 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
16605-420: 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
16740-416: 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
16875-414: 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
17010-569: 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
17145-498: 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
17280-508: 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
17415-402: 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
17550-542: 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
17685-418: 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
17820-420: 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
17955-498: 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
18090-534: 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
18225-447: 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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