The Great One: The Life and Legend of J

What Mr Henry reveals in this biography is the true ugliness of Jackie Gleason. Yes, he was an outstanding performer. Yes, he was loyal to his "pals". Yes, he worked his way up from nothing to become something. But what, exactly, did Gleason become? "The Great One", a title he bestowed upon himself? Or a miserable, bitter drunk, who twisted and controlled everything and everyone around him just to project the image of a genius? I believe every word of William Henry's excellent book, even though Jackie fans most certainly do not. I believe it because Mr Henry went to the sources--he interviewed Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, Jane Meadows and Joyce Randolph; he interviewed The Great One's directors, producers, castmates and writers (the people that truly made him great)--and they all agree to a universal conclusion, even when they try to be kind: Jackie Gleason was a crude, cruel, manipulative man, even beyond what you may expect. Read this book and prepare to be shocked.

Insightful, cogent and most of all, compassionate of a man that left others astray and outside their own ceative input. Henry paints his subject with the kind of depthful insight rarely afforded one who has not had direct access. It is as if the author has somehow gotten under the skin of his subject, found him wanting and yet left room for understanding and compassion. Here's Gleason - The Great One -warts and all