Talk:Jackie Gleason/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Drinking

This is a rather incomplete biography with regards to Gleason's off-the-set life. In particular it is completely silent on his alcoholism--Gleason was a notorious drinker and would even drink scotch from a teacup on camera. One of his homes was built with twenty fully-stocked bars, while another had a huge circular bar replicating that of his favorite New York watering hole. 130.91.64.44 16:23, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

POV

Also some POV problems here. Koyaanis Qatsi 05:12, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Smoking

It is also well-known that Gleason had a notoriously heavy smoking addition. He claimed in a 60-minutes interview in the 1980's that he smoked 5 packs of cigarettes per day. This is evidenced by the fact that he was seldom seen on or off camera without a cigarette. — Preceding undated comment added 20:51, 11 August 2006

Cleanup

I put cleanup tags on this article for the same reasons I outlined on Talk: Milton Berle. This article isn't as bad, but the tone in some places is just not formal enough for an encyclopedia. And there are some claims that it makes that could really use sources. Gershwinrb 08:14, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

This is obviously a loving rewrite by someone, but I did a first pass for style/tone and POV. I also changed the British spellings of some words (or Australian perhaps?). There is still a long way to go; I didn't want to change it TOO much, especially at a first go. Still a bit too effusive for an encyclopedic article. 152.163.100.68 07:58, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I remember the music director as being Ray Bloch. Gleason, during the monologue, would suddenly notice Ray (whose bald head was shining in the lights), point toward him and announce "Ladies and Gentlemen, there he is, the flower of the musical world, Ray Bloch". The TV camera would then pan over to Ray who would take a bow.

It was Ray Bloch in the early years and Sammy Spear later. I'll insert a line to that effect. 64.12.116.201 01:40, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Neutrality

Even the first few paragraphs seem to be biased, or at least have a copious amount of weasel words. For example, "Gleason repeatedly proved himself to be as capable a dramatic actor as he was a comedian" is obviously not neutral. If someone who knows more about the subject than I do could help, that would be appreciated. --Mr. Le fty _{Talk to me!} 20:03, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not seeing any weasel words. It's just a value statement about the subject's artistic capability, and such statements are necessary in explaining why an artist is noteworthy. But it's not sourced, and that's certainly a neutrality problem. Mind you, just get rid of the "repeatedly" and it seems as though the Oscar nomination in a dramatic role is citation enough. The motion picture Academy is certainly an authority on dramatic ability, I'd think. --Stellmach 15:51, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I just completed a casual read, and I don't see any major problems. (There was a called move in the Madison named "the Jackie Gleason", which is what brought me here.) Including too much detail about someone's failings in life (he smoked 5 packs a day. he ate a high fat diet. he ate animal flesh.) is a bit tabloidish. Now, if someone dies from lung cancer, it may be relevant.Steve Pastor 15:40, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Seriously? Just look at the "Dramatic Roles" section, particularly re: Smokey and the Bandit. Peacocking all over the place and a lot of fairly irrelevant or at least non encyclopaedic content. I get the idea that he's a funny and well loved guy, but whoever wrote that was trying to drive home their own personal opinion of Jackie OMG FUNNIEST ACTOR EVER HE SAVED THE FILM with a jack-hammer. 193.63.174.10 (talk) 10:28, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Isn't it difficult to keep any entry as neutral as is wished when, by this Encyclopaedia's very nature, it's certain to be written by enthusiasts rather than the strictly academic, from whom it's impossible to eliminate all exuberance? [Heath St John, England]. 10:06, 27/12/'06.

You can be exuberant, just quote other sources when you're doing it. At least in my opinion. 70.114.14.25 09:46, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

I think the subsequent section in the biography, "Dramatic Gleason" well enough substantates Gleason's dramatic achievements. 70.77.95.238 23:40, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

The Dramatic Gleason" section reads like it was lifted from an uncredited source. Phrases such as "comic pathos of the Poor Man" and use of the word "hardware" to mean an Oscar seem completely inconsistent with the preceding material. That's where I quit fine-tuning.

--NameThatWorks 17:15, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Copyediting

I've gone through, and fixed most of what I think were the biggest problems. However, if anyone disagrees, feel free to add the "copyedit needed" and "informal style" templates back in. Sophus Bie ^(talk) 00:26, 14 January 2009 (UTC)

I added a little more information about theater named after Jackie Gleason. (talk) 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Unreleased Songs

The issue of what order they are in is not relevant and rather petty. However, I have "ordered" them via alpha for those who are confused by the simple fact that there were unreleased songs from the Jackie Gleason archives. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tal1962 (talk • contribs) 18:22, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Anti-Semitism

how come no one has put on the fact he was an extreme anti-semitic person. it is important for readers to also understand the good and the bad of the people they are reading about. Also, he was one of the biggest anti-semites along with henry ford and walt disney. Mjosephs (talk) 05:07, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

You can put it yourself if you can find reliable sources to back it up. Good luck. MrBlondNYC (talk) 08:42, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

The question of his anti-semitism is open for debate. Those who claim he was are few and far between. Milton Berle was Jewish and he denounced such claims. --Tal1962 (talk) 00:35, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

The anti-semitism is a bunch of nonsense gossip. Kindzmarauli (talk) 05:57, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

Personal life?

Did he have one? A second wife is mentioned...DavidOaks (talk) 23:19, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Chronology

in the paragraph beginning 'his first recognition...', the chronology is at best confusing. at worst, it makes no sense. said first recognition is described as being in 1944, when he was 28. in the next sentence he is in the movies at 24. ??Toyokuni3 (talk) 17:27, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Yes, so why not fix it? Kindzmarauli (talk) 06:14, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

because i don't know what it should be.Toyokuni3 (talk) 15:38, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

It was pretty confusing. I've revised it; what do you think? Kindzmarauli (talk) 05:27, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Biographical Details

The biographical details in this article probably shouldn't be organized around tribute/biographical films depicting those events (or failing to depict those events in the case of unfinished projects). Justin Bacon (talk) 08:52, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

why is this closed to edit?

in the bio section about his parents, it has an acronym of BMT, a place his mother collected change, with no link or what it stands for. This leaves people having to guess what it means. I believe it's important to know what type of company she was collecting change from. I could guess, but isn't that what an encyclopedia helps prevent? I read it, and had to look it up.

So, thinking to myself on how to find out where and what that company was. I googled it. I first typed "BMT" into the search bar, but it didn't help me understand, and worse, the search confused me even more, by bringing up "British Mean Time", "Bone Marrow Transplant", "Basic Military Training" and many other companies with those initials. So I tried another search string, by adding Gleasons last name. Still didn't help, only one hit on the first page may have hit, but it wasn't connected to Gleason. Then I added his mother's first name to the search string, "BMT, Gleason, Mae" and finally got a hit - still digging though.

I wrote all the above out to show how it can detract from the article rather than being more informative by having to search off wikipedia, and getting lost. Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. Please add that internal link so that others, who are as dumb as I, do not have to go elsewhere to find basic information. Thanks you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.83.35.137 (talk) 05:56, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

I put BMT into the Wikipedia search and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation came up. Doesn't seem to tricky. I have added the link. The article is open to edit, there in no protection on it. The aim is for articles to develop and improve over time. Given you have a long, free article on Gleason in front of you, donated by volunteers, I'm not sure you have great reason for great complaint. But hey. Span (talk) 07:22, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Yeah it comes up as twelfth in a list of eighteen. Hardly intuitive. Seems like his original comment was polite, helpful and accurate, unlike yours, but hey - it's your article so how dare he criticise it right? Definitely worth putting him down instead of just taking 5 seconds to make the fix he suggested. Keep up the good work. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.139.233.75 (talk) 22:49, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

"The Great One"

Current: Gleason's comic genius and acting ability are why Orson Welles nicknamed him "The Great One."

In his 1984 'Sixty Minutes' interview with Morley Safer, Jackie Gleason said that it was Lucy (Lucille Ball) who first called him "The Great One." Safer asked him, "Are you the great one?" to which Gleason replied, "You just saw me play pool, didn't you?"

Dean Sliger (talk) 22:39, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Memory

It says Gleason had a photographic memory but since no one has ever been able to prove such a thing exists, only people with a very good but not photographic memory, it should be reworded to say that he and maybe other people who knew him believed him to have one. 174.91.4.18 (talk) 19:41, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

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