Jackie Gleason est un acteur, compositeur, producteur, scénariste et réalisateur américain né le 26 février 1916 à New York, et mort le 24 juin 1987 à Fort Lauderdale (Floride). Principalement connu comme acteur comique, il a été, à partir des années 1950, une vedette de la télévision américaine. Il a également tenu à l'occasion, des rôles dramatiques comme dans L'Arnaqueur.

Biographie

Marriages and family
Gleason met dancer Genevieve Halford when they were working in vaudeville, and they started to date. Halford wanted to marry but Gleason was not ready to settle down. She said she would see other men if they did not marry. One evening when Gleason went onstage at the Club Miami in Newark, New Jersey, he saw Halford in the front row with a date. At the end of his show, Gleason went to the table and proposed to Halford in front of her date. They were married on September 20, 1936.

Halford wanted a quiet home life but Gleason fell back into spending his nights out. Separated for the first time in 1941 and reconciled in 1948, the couple had two daughters (Geraldine and Linda). Gleason and his wife informally separated again in 1951.

In early 1954, Gleason suffered a broken leg and ankle on-air during his television show. His injuries sidelined him for several weeks. Halford visited him while Gleason was hospitalized, finding dancer Marilyn Taylor there from his television show. Halford filed for a legal separation in April 1954. A devout Catholic, Halford did not grant Gleason a divorce until 1970.

Gleason met his second wife, Beverly McKittrick, at a country club in 1968, where she worked as a secretary. Ten days after his divorce from Genevieve was final, Gleason and McKittrick were married in a registry ceremony in Ashford, England on July 4, 1970.

In 1974 Marilyn Taylor encountered Gleason again when she moved to the Miami area to be near her sister June, whose dancers were part of Gleason's shows for many years. She had been out of show business for nearly 20 years. In September 1974 Gleason filed for divorce from McKittrick (who contested, asking for a reconciliation). The divorce was granted on November 19, 1975. As a widow with a young son, Marilyn Taylor married Gleason on December 16, 1975; the marriage lasted until his death in 1987.

Gleason's daughter Linda became an actress and married actor-playwright Jason Miller. Their son, Gleason's grandson, is actor Jason Patric.


Fear of flying
For many years, Gleason would travel only by train; his fear of flying arose from an incident in his early movie career. Gleason would fly back and forth to Los Angeles for relatively minor movie work. After finishing one movie, the comedian boarded a plane for New York. When two of the plane's engines cut out in the middle of the flight, the pilot had to make an emergency landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Although another plane was prepared for the passengers, Gleason had had enough of flying. He went into downtown Tulsa, walked into a hardware store, and asked its owner to lend him $200 for the train trip to New York. The owner asked Gleason why he thought anyone would lend a stranger so much money. Gleason identified himself and explained his situation. The store owner said he would lend the money if the local theater had a photo of Gleason in his latest film. But the publicity shots showed only the principal stars. Gleason proposed to buy two tickets to the movie and take the store owner; he would be able to see the actor in action. The two men watched the movie for an hour before Gleason appeared on screen. The owner gave Gleason the loan, and he took the next train to New York. There he borrowed $200 to repay his benefactor.


Interest in the paranormal
Gleason was greatly interested in the paranormal , buying and reading numerous books on the topic, as well as on parapsychology and UFOs. During the 1950s he was a semi-regular guest on a paranormal-themed overnight radio show hosted by John Nebel, and wrote the introduction to Donald Bain's biography of Nebel. After his death, his large book collection was donated to the library of the University of Miami. A complete listing of the holdings of Gleason's library has been issued by the online cataloging service LibraryThing.

According to writer Larry Holcombe, Gleason's known interest in UFOs allegedly prompted President Richard Nixon to share some information with him and to disclose some UFO data publicly.

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