Word: gleason
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...headstrong rule of his own roost, Gleason had a mixed reputation around CBS: "There is only one way to do things." said the voices in the washroom, "the Gleason way." He refused to rehearse, treated scriptwriters with such scorn that one producer claims "we had to hire a liaison man between Gleason and his scriptwriters." Nonetheless, the company thought enough of his talents to agree to pay him $100,000 a year every year from 1957 through 1972. Gleason does not have to work for the money. It is paid to him simply to keep him from working...
After 39 weeks of The Honeymooners, Gleason reports, he called Buick and told them to keep the rest of their $11 million, explaining that it was impossible to maintain good material at the accelerated pace. "You'll have to give us time to think it over." said Buick. nonplused. They thought it over and finally agreed. Like all TV phenomena. Gleason had reached a peak and was apparently in decline. In 1957-58, he took a year...
...wild and combine with a boisterous taste for practical jokes. To various people he has given a pig. a goat, a horse 600 Ibs. of manure, a dozen rabbits, a truckload of used furniture, a tiny monkey, and a basketful of shrunken heads. One recipient retaliated by sneaking into Gleason's bathroom and filling the tub with Jello...
Time of Decision. But the year off seems to have been a time of decision for Gleason. Late in 1958, he took on a role as a serious actor - in a television produc tion of Saroyan's The Time of Your Life. To nearly everybody's astonishment, he was enormously impressive. Then Producer David Merrick asked him to play the blissfully besotted Uncle Sid in Take Me Along-the musical version of Eugene O'Neill's Ah! Wilderness. His collision with Merrick, whose ego matches his. was Homeric. "What's the highest straight salary ever...
Divided Family. In Paris last spring for the filming of Gigot (in which he plays a deaf-mute). Gleason was asked by an A.P. reporter what he thought of French girls. He refused to comment, saying: "I just happen to be a one-girl guy." The one girl at the moment is Honey Merrill, a bright, pretty, former showgirl who helps in Gleason's office and has loved him devotedly for five years. Before that. Gleason's steady companion was Marilyn Taylor, dancer and younger sister of his choreographer on The Jackie Gleason Show. She eventually left...