John Herbert Gleason was born on 26 February 1916, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, of Irish ancestry. John was an actor, musician and comedian best known for his character Ralph Kramden in the television sketches “The Honeymooners”. He also helped develop and hosted “The Jackie Gleason Show” which became very popular in the 1950s. His numerous efforts helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing in 1987.
How rich was Jackie Gleason? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that was at $10 million, mostly earned through a successful career as an actor. While he had a lot of success in film and on television, he also did music for a time in his career. He’s well respected in the United States with numerous places paying recognition and honor to his memory.
Jackie Gleason Net Worth $10 Million
Gleason’s father left the family at a young age, and Jackie became a part of a local gang soon after that. He went to P.S.73 elementary school and John Adams High School, but did not matriculate. During his time at John Adams, he took an interest in acting and later got a job as master of ceremonies in a theatre. Along with this, Gleason worked various odd jobs and after his mother died, he was taken in by the family of his first girlfriend Julie Dennehy. He then began left to pursue a career as a comedian, which was the start of his net worth increase.
He eventually got to perform at various clubs, reaching Club 18 in New York City, where he was discovered and given a film contract. The first films he was seen in include “All Through the Night”, “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp” and “Orchestra Wives”. While making these films, he still worked in nightclubs, mostly performing comedy and music. He then started to become popular when he performed on Broadway in the production of “Follow the Girls”. This then continued with television success, starting with the adaptation of the radio comedy “The Life of Riley”. His popularity also helped the creation of “The Jackie Gleason Show”, in which he created a lot of characters and roles for the show including The Poor Soul, The Bachelor, Reginald Van Gleason III and Rudy the Repairman. He then created a sketch which would be known as “The Honeymooners”, which became so successful after its first appearance that they tried to make it into a separate television show, but that didn’t work out.
Around the late 50s up to the 60s, Gleason was starting to get into the music scene, and released his first album “Music for Lovers Only” which held 153 weeks in the Billboard Top Ten Charts. He was also responsible for creating the musical themes for “The Jack Gleason Show” and “The Honeymooners”. Gleason also received a Tony Award for being a part of the musical “Take Me Along”.
Jackie then went back to television, reviving his signature variety shows, doing sketches once more, and even bringing “The Honeymooners” back. They had more success this time and he even did a few specials for various television networks. He also started to do more dramatic work in films such as “The Laugh Maker” and “The Time of Your Life”. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Award for “The Hustler”, and continued to make films including “Requiem for a Heavyweight”, “Gigot”, “The Wool Cap” and “The Toy”.
For his personal life, Jackie married Genevieve Halford in 1936, and they had two daughters during their turbulent marriage. The separated in 1954 but did not divorce until 1970. His second wife was Beverly McKittrick: they married in 1970 as well. Four years later they would divorce, and he married Marilyn Taylor in 1975 which lasted until Gleason’s death. Around the 1980s he was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, which had already spread through to his liver. He died from the illness in his home in June 1987.
