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Jackie Gleason's Best Character

M

Mark_Giardina

Guest
() Bus driver Ralph Kramden
() Reginald Van Gleason
() The Poor Soul
() Minnesota Fats (From the movie “The Hustler)
() Sheriff Buford T. Justice (From the movie “Smokey & The Bandit)


For a dramatic role it has to be Minnesota Fats. Gleason was quite a pool player and he performed all of the pool shots himself during filming of the movie while Paul Newman had a professional stand-in.

For comedy, even though I remember "The Honeymooners", I still enjoy Gleason’s portrayal of Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. Junior, his son in the movie, was the perfect foil for Gleason.

<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
> () Bus driver Ralph Kramden
> () Reginald Van Gleason
> () The Poor Soul
> () Minnesota Fats (From the movie “The Hustler)
> () Sheriff Buford T. Justice (From the movie “Smokey & The
> Bandit)
>
>
> For a dramatic role it has to be Minnesota Fats. Gleason was
> quite a pool player and he performed all of the pool shots
> himself during filming of the movie while Paul Newman had a
> professional stand-in.
>
> For comedy, even though I remember "The Honeymooners", I
> still enjoy Gleason’s portrayal of Texas Sheriff Buford T.
> Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. Junior, his son in the
> movie, was the perfect foil for Gleason.
>

I'd have to go with Ralph Kramden. After all, it was Gleason's performance as "Ralphie Boy" that inspired Carroll O'Conner to play Archie Bunker the way that O'Connor played him. And as we all know, Ralph Kramden and Archie Bunker are two of the biggest/most influential male characters (comedy) that TV has ever known.
I know they're two of my all-time favorite TV comedy characters, that's for sure!
 
> > () Bus driver Ralph Kramden
> > () Reginald Van Gleason
> > () The Poor Soul
> > () Minnesota Fats (From the movie “The Hustler)
> > () Sheriff Buford T. Justice (From the movie “Smokey & The
>
> > Bandit)
> >
> >
> > For a dramatic role it has to be Minnesota Fats. Gleason
> was
> > quite a pool player and he performed all of the pool shots
>
> > himself during filming of the movie while Paul Newman had
> a
> > professional stand-in.
> >
> > For comedy, even though I remember "The Honeymooners", I
> > still enjoy Gleason’s portrayal of Texas Sheriff Buford T.
>
> > Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. Junior, his son in the
> > movie, was the perfect foil for Gleason.
> >
>
> I'd have to go with Ralph Kramden. After all, it was
> Gleason's performance as "Ralphie Boy" that inspired Carroll
> O'Conner to play Archie Bunker the way that O'Connor played
> him. And as we all know, Ralph Kramden and Archie Bunker are
> two of the biggest/most influential male characters (comedy)
> that TV has ever known.
> I know they're two of my all-time favorite TV comedy
> characters, that's for sure!
>
I forget who said it, but someone once noted that All In The
Family debuted around the same time Gleason was canceled. Archie
and Ralph, the person said, could never have coexisted on the
same network. Could be. I just know CBS is proud to have had
both of them on the network.
 
If you asked the "Great One" that question, he might have told you this. He still has old interviews that run on the Miami-Dade Public TV Channel.


Gigot (1962)
A poignant comedy about a mute who befriends Nicole, the little daughter of a prostitute. Gleason shows his considerable talents as an actor without uttering a sound as he plays the bumbling, kind-hearted janitor, Gigot. Gleason wrote the original story and music for this film.
 
One of my favorites was "Joe The Bartender" on Jackie's American Scene Magazine, from Miami.
 
> One of my favorites was "Joe The Bartender" on Jackie's
> American Scene Magazine, from Miami.
>
I always liked joe the bartender the best also. But all of these roles are and will forever be classic from a true professional. Anybody remember Crazy Goganhein? I will always love Frank Fontaine in that role!
 
>Anybody remember Crazy Goganhein? I will
> always love Frank Fontaine in that role!
>

Fontaine was great wasn't he? The scene would generally open with Joe the bartender singing. You would see him out of focus as the swinging doors opened and the camera pushed in, bringing 'Joe' into focus. He would greet you, while setting up a drink for you. Crazy Goganhein would come in drunk, say 'hi' to Joe and a Mr. Dunahee, would was supposedly at the other end of the bar. Of course, nobody was there, but the way Crazy laughed after saying hi to the other fellow patron was priceless. As he would speak to Joe, about a subject, he would manage to spit, usually landing in Joe's eye. Joe would grimmace and wipe the spittle from his eye. The looks on his face were fantastic. Jackie was fantastic. After all, he was "The Great One."
 
> >Anybody remember Crazy Goganhein? I will
> > always love Frank Fontaine in that role!
> >
>
> Fontaine was great wasn't he? The scene would generally open
> with Joe the bartender singing. You would see him out of
> focus as the swinging doors opened and the camera pushed in,
> bringing 'Joe' into focus. He would greet you, while setting
> up a drink for you. Crazy Goganhein would come in drunk, say
> 'hi' to Joe and a Mr. Dunahee, would was supposedly at the
> other end of the bar. Of course, nobody was there, but the
> way Crazy laughed after saying hi to the other fellow patron
> was priceless. As he would speak to Joe, about a subject, he
> would manage to spit, usually landing in Joe's eye. Joe
> would grimmace and wipe the spittle from his eye. The looks
> on his face were fantastic. Jackie was fantastic. After all,
> he was "The Great One."
>
When I was about seven or eight we all used to go around
imitating "Craze" saying "Hello, Joe. Hello, Mr. Dunahee.
A-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, HEE HEE HEE!" And, always, Joe would ask
Crazy to sing, which Frank Fontaine would do in his natural
voice, which was always a pleasure to listen to. It was a
lot like Jim Nabors switching from his Gomer Pyle voice to
his natural voice for singing.

I think Joe the Bartender was my favorite character on the
American Scene Magazine shows.

I don't especially recommend the 1966-70 Honeymooners episodes,
except as a piece of history. They're in color, which takes
some of the grimness out of the setting; Art Carney is even
paunchier than Gleason (who was on a diet most of that time);
and, above all, Sheila MacRae is not Audrey Meadows. MacRae
is much too glamorous, and her putdowns lack the edginess of
Meadows (or even the original Alice, Pert Kelton). Jane Kean
isn't radically different from Joyce Randolph as Trixie. And
the trip around the world seems an unlikely victory for a loser
like Ralph (although they did these same sketches a decade or
so earlier). Finally, there are the songs, none of which are
particularly memorable. My advice: stick to the Classic 39 or
the kinescopes from the '50s.
 
> When I was about seven or eight we all used to go around
> imitating "Craze" saying "Hello, Joe. Hello, Mr. Dunahee.
> A-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh, HEE HEE HEE!"

Thank you. Thats the laugh I was refering to. I just didn't know how to write it. LOL

>And, always, Joe would ask Crazy to sing, which Frank Fontaine would do in his natural voice, which was always a pleasure to listen to.

I had forgotten about that. Thanks for refreshing my memory. One second he was a drunken, blabbering idiot, and the next his persona changed into this wonderful voice as he burst into song. As soon as the song was finished, the crazy look reappeared on his face along with his character.

Saturday nights in our family was a great time. If you ever run into tapes of that show, let me know.
 
> > () Bus driver Ralph Kramden
> > () Reginald Van Gleason
> > () The Poor Soul
> > () Minnesota Fats (From the movie “The Hustler)
> > () Sheriff Buford T. Justice (From the movie “Smokey & The
>
> > Bandit)
> >
> >
> > For a dramatic role it has to be Minnesota Fats. Gleason
> was
> > quite a pool player and he performed all of the pool shots
>
> > himself during filming of the movie while Paul Newman had
> a
> > professional stand-in.
> >
> > For comedy, even though I remember "The Honeymooners", I
> > still enjoy Gleason’s portrayal of Texas Sheriff Buford T.
>
> > Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. Junior, his son in the
> > movie, was the perfect foil for Gleason.
> >
>
> I'd have to go with Ralph Kramden. After all, it was
> Gleason's performance as "Ralphie Boy" that inspired Carroll
> O'Conner to play Archie Bunker the way that O'Connor played
> him. And as we all know, Ralph Kramden and Archie Bunker are
> two of the biggest/most influential male characters (comedy)
> that TV has ever known.
> I know they're two of my all-time favorite TV comedy
> characters, that's for sure!

Who cares what you think.
>
 
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