BW - EP155—006: New York And The 1944 Radio World—Jackie Gleason's Radio Debut 08/13/1944

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers John Herbert “Jackie” Gleason was born on February 26th, 1916, on Chauncey Street in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The younger of two children, his brother Clement died from meningitis at fourteen in 1919. Six years later his father left the family. Gleason’s mother Mae got a job as a subway attendant for the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. Jackie spent his youth hustling pool and performing in class plays. He quit high school and took a job to perform at local theaters, putting on acts with friends, and then emceed at the Folly Theater. When Jackie was nineteen in 1935 his mother died from complications of sepsis. He worked his way up to a job at Manhattan’s Club 18. Jack Warner saw him, signing Gleason to a contract for two-hundred-fifty dollars per-week. Jackie married dancer Genevieve Halford on September 20th, 1936. The couple had two children: Geraldine, born in 1940, and Linda, born in 1942. Classified as 4-F and rejected for military service, by the summer of 1944 a twenty-eight year-old Gleason had appeared in films opposite Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Betty Grable. He also became known for hosting all-night parties in his hotel suite. His hotel soundproofed his apartment out of consideration for its other guests. NBC, seeing something in the brash, outspoken Brooklynite, added him to Double Feature, co-starring Les Tremayne and Alfred Drake, Sunday nights at 10:30PM. Rebranded The Les Tremayne-Jackie Gleason Show, he debuted this episode on August 13th, 1944. Edgar Bergen was the special guest. This is that debut. The show would air until October 22nd.