The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason
Following W. J. Weatherby's disappointing Jackie Gleason (Nonfiction Forecasts, Mar. 9), this is a thorough, penetrating, uncompromising study of the Brooklyn-born, Irish-American ghetto kid whose talents took him to the top. The cultural icon's programs dominated TV in the 1950s, and even today reruns of The Honeymooners wipe out the competition, notes Time magazine culture critic Henry, who expertly analyzes the performer's acting on TV, on stage and in film. Although known as "The Great One," so dubbed by Orson Welles, Gleason (1916-1987), shows the author, was a terror in his private life: a glutton, heavy drinker and womanizer who was cruel to friends and associates. The book presents diverse sentiments from those who knew him well, suggesting that he presented many different guises. Or, as a close friend quoted here concludes: "The truth is, I don't know if I ever met Jack Gleason. I know I met some portrayal of him." Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.