Johnny Carson ask Jackie Gleason if he hustled pool.

Bob Jewett said:
He exuded class in the Hustler. Quite different from the other Fats. He was about 70 in the clip so he was hustling grade schoolers in the 1920s.
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Class, and you took one look and knew Jackie could play! I always figured if they had given him another five minutes he would have pulled the movie out from under Newman.

I was a long time appreciating Jackie, it was my loss.

Hu
 
Great find! Love this thread.

One of my favorite interviews was an aged Jackie Gleason by Morley Safer on 60 Minutes, 1984.


After he passed, it was a hard sell on his home in Florida due to the location, but the pool table room was so cool, giving the railbirds an elevated seat.

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Jackie Gleason's Florida Home

As an aside, some New Yorkers in our pool community have said he was not liked by them because of his brashness. But I have a particular fondness for Jackie Gleason. My parents used to watch his variety show when I was a young girl, and my father laughed and laughed. Also, Jackie has something in common with our pool community. Ewa Laurance and I both share the same birthday as Jackie. :)
 
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Bob Jewett said:
He exuded class in the Hustler. Quite different from the other Fats. He was about 70 in the clip so he was hustling grade schoolers in the 1920s.
Click to expand...
Jackie Gleason grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, and as a teenager he worked as a rack boy in local poolrooms. As most of us know, a rack boy’s job was to rack the balls between games. My first time seeing a rack boy was in Winston-Salem, NC. A young man had a white apron on and would rack the balls for a quarter. I'd never seen that before until then.

Sadly, Jackie had a very difficult childhood. His father left the family when Jackie was nine,, and later his older brother died of spinal meningitis. He lived alone with his mom, who worked long hours to support them, and they struggled financially. Gleason was extremely devoted to his mom, and those hard years in his childhood deeply affected him.

Gleason said working in poolrooms was a big part of his education. He observed hustlers, gamblers, and neighborhood characters, experiences that influenced the personality he brought to "The Honeymooners."

Pool became a lifelong passion for him. He was known to be an excellent player and remained deeply involved in the game throughout his life.

Many, many years ago, I bought a copy of this photo below on eBay, Jackie doing his "Away We Go" routine in front of Arnold Palmer. Jackie was a huge golf nut. Look at the smiles on the faces of the bystanders. He reminds me so much of somebody else I know well who also brings smiles to the faces of railbirds when he's in action. :)

Jackie and Arnold Palmer.png


Needless to say, I am a huge, huge Jackie Gleason fan.
 
I’m a huge fan, how can you not be when the man had a “pit” installed in his home billiard room?

Talented player, and extremely talented actor who brought life to the myriad of roles he played in his career. From the humor of the Honeymooners, to his ability to switch gears and play dramatic roles as he did in the Hustler. Then there’s one my favorites, his role as Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. “Give me a Diablo sandwich and a Dr. Pepper and make it quick, I’m in a hurry”
 
JAM said:
Jackie Gleason grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, and as a teenager he worked as a rack boy in local poolrooms. As most of us know, a rack boy’s job was to rack the balls between games. My first time seeing a rack boy was in Winston-Salem, NC. A young man had a white apron on and would rack the balls for a quarter. I'd never seen that before until then.
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My favorite rack boy was at the Duke Sport Shop in Durham, NC, a small room right off Five Points. He had a stump for an arm, and was a dead ringer for Nikita Khrushchev, right down to the mole on his nose.

That was a strange pool room in many ways. It had a big clock above the bar that ran backwards, and a talking mynah bird whose only words were "YOUR MAMMY!", which greeted everyone who walked in the door.
 
about ten years ago a bartender at the classic west village spot The Corner Bistro told me a story from his father, a bartender in new york in the 60’s

he made a drink for jackie gleason and he tipped him $100

an extraordinary tip at the time, even today

he asked the bartender, have you ever gotten a tip like that before?

yes sir, mister gleason

do you remember who gave it to you?

yes, i believe it was you, mister gleason
 
I remember when I was a little kid and he had that show in Miami Beach and at the start of the show, the Camera would come in from the sea side, right up to the high rise hotel.

The man was a giant. Smoking, drinking and gaming.......
 
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