Most people today recall Jackie Gleason in his Ralph Cramden persona, but he did several other regular characters on his TV shows of the 50s and 60s. The Bartender, The Poor Soul, and Reggie, for example.
from Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners #4 (December 1956-January 1957)
Most of those characters were seen on his show on the Dumont network.
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't live in the New York area (or have relatives there), you never saw them.
(I still remember Reggie's walk-on music was "Shangri-La" and his tagline, for all those gadgets that handed him a shot, "Hoo, boy, that's good booze").
I remember Joe the Bartender, The Poor Soul and Reggie from the mid 1960s variety show. Some of the characters date back to JG's appearances on Ed Sullivan's TALK OF THE TOWN. Some of the others are unknown to me.
ReplyDeleteThe show in the 60s was on CBS Saturday nights. Reggie wasn't in evidence as much as Joe, who was an outgrowth of another old Gleason character, Loudmouth Charlie Bratten.
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