James Gleason
| James Gleason | |
|---|---|
in Meet John Doe (1941)
|
|
| Born |
May 23, 1882 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | April 12, 1959 (aged 76) Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1914–59 |
| Spouse(s) | Lucille Gleason (1905-1947) (her death) |
| Children | Russell Gleason (son) |
James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor born in New York City. He was also a playwright and screenwriter.
Gleason was born in New York City, the son of Mina (née Crolius; 1858-1931) and William L. Gleason (1850-1909). Coming from theatrical stock, as a schoolboy he made stage appearances while on holiday. He began earning his living at the age of thirteen, being a messenger boy, printer's devil, assistant in an electrical store and a lift boy. He enlisted in the United States Army at age 16 and served three years in the Philippines.
On discharge, he began his stage career, later taking it up professionally. He played in London for two years and following his return to the United States, he began in films by writing dialogue for "comedies". He wrote a number of plays, several of which were performed on Broadway. He also acted on Broadway, including in a couple of his own plays. When World War I broke out, Gleason reenlisted in the United States Army and served to the end of the war.
His film debut was in Polly of the Follies (1922), starring Constance Talmadge. Balding and slender with a craggy voice and a master of the double-take, Gleason portrayed tough but warm-hearted characters, usually with a New York background. He co-wrote The Broadway Melody, the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and had a small uncredited role in it. He also co-wrote and briefly appeared as a hot dog vendor in the 1934 Janet Gaynor vehicle Change of Heart. He performed in a number of films with his wife Lucile. In The Clock (1945), he played a milk cart driver who gives lessons in marriage to the characters played by Judy Garland and Robert Walker, while Lucille played his wife. The same year, he played the bartender in the film adaptation of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In the Frank Capra classic Meet John Doe, he played the cynical, "hard boiled" editor brought in to pump up the newspaper that runs with the "John Doe" story. Gleason starred in two movie series, playing police inspector Oscar Piper in six Hildegarde Withers mystery films during the 1930s, starting with The Penguin Pool Murder, and Joe Higgins in the first seven of nine films about the Higgins Family, in which his wife Lucile and son Russell played Lil and Sydney Higgins. Gleason was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as boxing manager Max "Pop" Corkle in the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan.
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