James Gleason makes his Summer Under the Stars Debut

James Gleason was adept at everything in entertainment. From the stage to the written page to the screen, Gleason’s work has entertained audiences for a century. Tomorrow we all get the opportunity to enjoy a sample of his movie career when Turner Classic Movies (TCM) honors him with his first ever Summer Under the Stars day.

Best remembered as one of the silver screen’s great character actors, James Gleason’s characters delight, their mere presence evoke a smile whenever they appear. Whether you see him in a serious pre-code or as his signature policemen with their “tanks” and “moidahs,’ as an ice-skating cab driver, or a scene-stealing boxing manager, the prolific James Gleason’s superior wit comes through in his varied movie appearances as does his enormous heart, regardless of how tough the character is. Among the great character actors in the movies – and there are many – James Gleason stands tall.

The son of theater actors, James Gleason was born in New York City on May 23, 1882. Some sources state James made his stage debut at two months of age. He did not intend on an acting career, however, until after his three-year stint in the Army serving in the Philippines from the age of sixteen. By the time he returned, his parents had a stock company, which started his acting career in earnest – except for the time he spent fighting in WWI, for which he enlisted.

Jimmy, as many called him, worked in London for a couple of years and got his break on Broadway after he started writing dialogue for comedies followed by a few plays, several of which were produced in the Great White Way. Gleason co-wrote The Broadway Melody, which later made it to the screen. Directed by Harry Beaumont, The Broadway Melody was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s first all-talking picture and the first sound movie to win the Best Picture Academy Award.

In 1905, Jimmy Gleason married fellow actor Lucile Webster. They met while working with William Gleason’s stock company and collaborated on many projects through the years on stage and in seventeen movies. Following are images of the couple in the Broadway show, The Shannons of Broadway and in the 1929 movie version, a story written by James Gleason.

Jimmy Gleason made his movie debut in James Merson’s Polly of the Follies (1922) starring Norma Talmadge and he never looked back, going all-in for the movies as he had done on stage. Gleason even directed some short subjects and features.

Like most Hollywood stars of the golden age, Jimmy Gleason did a lot of radio work, and I thought it would be fun to include a few examples to accompany you when you cannot be watching his movies.

In 1931, Jimmy teamed with Robert Armstrong for a radio comedy series Knights of the Road (aka The Gleason and Armstrong Show). The two first worked together in the 1925 play Is Zat So? co-written by Gleason. They also co-starred in the first of six films they made together in 1929, Tay Garnett’s Oh, Yeah! Jimmy Gleason and Robert Armstrong do not come to mind when one thinks of great comedy teams, but they were good enough to have made over one hundred episodes of Knights of the Road. Sadly, I could not find any episodes of the show to share, but you can read more about it here.

Samples of Jimmy Gleason’s radio work on Lux Radio Theatre:

From November 1936, Polly of the Circus with Loretta Young, James Gleason, and Gavin Gordon (Lionel Barrymore steps in for DeMille as producer/host)

From June 1937, The Front Page with Walter Winchell, Josephone Hutchison, and James Gleason

From January 1942, Here Comes Mr. Jordan with Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, and James Gleason

From February 1944, Wake Up and Live with Frank Sinatra, Bob Crosby, Marilyn Maxwell, James Gleason, and James Dunn

Screen Guild Players radio performances:

Love is News with Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan and James Gleason from June 1943

Jimmy Gleason stars in this 1945 presentation of So This is Washington

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James Gleason’s Summer Under the Stars day is exactly what makes this festival one of my favorites. I am always introduced to movies I have not seen or am reminded of an actor’s career, especially one as rich and varied as Gleason’s. Jimmy Gleason day on TCM will begin with his brilliant collaboration with Edna May Oliver in two of the Hildegarde Withers pictures and you’ll enjoy his Oscar-nominated performance in Alexander Hall’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), but I bet you won’t be able to decide which of the day’s offerings is most entertaining. You may not know James Gleason’s name off the bat, but if you are a classic movie fan you will know his expressive face and witty, sarcastic delivery. Jimmy Gleason was that good.