Jackie Gleason and Trains

quote:

Originally posted by Tinplate Art:
Gleason had a terrific orchestra with Bobby Hackett on trumpet. He wrote and arranged "Melancholy Serenade", which became his theme song. His orchestra played many classic love songs by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, Jerome Kern, and many others.

Very relaxing music!

Also, "You are my Greatest Love" which he wrote (or co wrote, I don't remember) became the theme song for The Honeymooners

About 25 years ago there was a secret organization known as

Royal
Association for the
Longeviety and
Preservation of the
Honeymooners

It was a laugh riot, newsletters , conventions etc etc. It was a nationwide group started by 2 guys in CW Post College . They closed up shop when Gleason passed away.

RALPH

Don't forget Gleason's famous quote: "Booze goes swell with Lionel."

A few years ago they did a TV story about the life of Jackie Gleason. The tall actor Brad something who also played Ray Romano's brother on Everyone Loves Raymond played the lead role.

His early years were pretty painful for him personally and he was a difficult person to work with as he became more successful. He was notorious for micro managing everything in his shows. When they were interviewing actresses for the part of Alice Kramden for the Honeymooners he was doing the interviews. When Audrey Meadows showed up he took one look at her and said that she was to pretty and elegant to play Alice as a housewife and dismissed her.

Audrey went out and took off her makeup and fixed her hair in a more plain hairstyle and came back in to interview again. She immediately assumed the role of Alice and started bantering back and forth with Jackie as Ralph Kramden. They went back and forth without a script but still in their roles and finally Jackie told everyone I found my Alice.

In one of the Dean Martin Roasts of Jackie Gleason he made a comment about his drinking a partying by saying that he had been on the more more times than Johnson wax!

Steve Tapper

quote:

Originally posted by NYC Fan:
Don't forget Gleason's famous quote: "Booze goes swell with Lionel."

I remember reading about that in the book "All Aboard"

quote:

In one of the Dean Martin Roasts of Jackie Gleason he made a comment about his drinking a partying by saying that he had been on the more more times than Johnson wax!

Steve, I think you meant....he had been on the floor more times than Johnson's Wax.

quote:

Also, "You are my Greatest Love" which he wrote (or co wrote, I don't remember) became the theme song for The Honeymooners

Thanks Christopher! I never knew the name of that tune.

Tinplate Art:

My father also lived on Chauncey Street in Bushwick. He lived at 330 Chauncey, which would have been next door to the Kramdens at 328!

My father was a few years older than Jackie, so he did know him, although they both attended the same schools.

My grandfather used to take my father to the nearby Halsey Theater to see vaudeville shows. The Halsey is where Jackie caught the showbiz bug when he attended with HIS father.

I know it has been documented here on the forum how Gleason used Lionel trains in at least one of his shows. He apparently liked real trains, too!

John Knapp
Erie, not Eerie

quote:

Originally posted by NYC Fan:

quote:

In one of the Dean Martin Roasts of Jackie Gleason he made a comment about his drinking a partying by saying that he had been on the more more times than Johnson wax!

Steve, I think you meant....he had been on the floor more times than Johnson's Wax.

quote:

Also, "You are my Greatest Love" which he wrote (or co wrote, I don't remember) became the theme song for The Honeymooners

Thanks Christopher! I never knew the name of that tune.

If you every get to hear the original album version, it's pretty cool. A lot slower than the one used on the TV show (longer too)

I grew up in Brooklyn, and being such a big Gleason fan, I drove by that house a few times. I wish they would make it into something. I didn't stop and get pics, as by then, it was not the best of neighborhoods.

quote:

I know it has been documented here on the forum how Gleason used Lionel trains in at least one of his shows. He apparently liked real trains, too!

Jackie Gleason got a big laugh on his variety show by having his Reginald Van Gleason character exclaim, after taking a sip of a drink that a model train brought to him on the bar, "Booze goes swell with Lionel." Apparently, however, the executives at Lionel were not too pleased with the free publicity.

Many years ago I had suggested to MTH to make 2 Honeymooners items

The Jackie Gleason Bus terminal in Brooklyn

The Art Carney sewage Treatment plant in Connecticut

and in the Same sentence I squeezed in the Frank Sinatra Post office in Hoboken.



rat

...still waiting

They should also make the Stewart family hardware store, complete with an Oscar statue in the front window.

Jimmy Stewart was a great actor, and an even better man.

Jeff C

The gleason Bus Depot

quote:

Originally posted by ratpak:
The gleason Bus Depot

I think it's in Sunset Park

I was a member of RALPH---still have my membership card/pin and newsletters/other junk.

I wondered what happened?
Thx
Joe S.

Went on Youtube and found Jackie Gleason's Melancholy Serenade and played it

Went to the Roanoke rail cam and watched a slow moving train pass by as cars made their way through the streets

It was a good fit


cc

I did some digging on youtube & found a clip of "You are my greatest love" aka the theme for the Honeymooners.  This is the version off the album - 

http://youtu.be/WlhPcMPdhz0