John Herbert Gleason February 26 1916 June 24 1987 was an American actor comedian writer and composer known affectionately as The Great One He developed a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn New York and was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy exemplified by his city bus driver character Ralph Kramden in the television series The Honeymooners He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show which maintained high ratings from the mid1950s through 1970 The series originated in New York City but videotaping moved to Miami Beach Florida in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there Among his notable film roles were Minnesota Fats in 1961s The Hustler costarring with Paul Newman and Buford T Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit series from 1977 to 1983 costarring Burt Reynolds From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
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