Gleason, James (1886–1959), actor and playwright. Born in New York into an old family of troupers, he was carried on stage at the age of two, then performed around the country with numerous touring and stock companies. Gleason returned to New York in 1914 to appear in Pretty Mrs. Smith, then soon graduated to such important roles as the pretend millionaire Nathaniel Alden in Like a King (1921) and the disillusioned playwright James Leland in The Deep Tangled Wildwood (1923) before scoring a major success as the tough‐talking fight manager “Hap” Hurley in Is Zat So? (1925), which he wrote with Richard Taber. Later that same season he collaborated with George Abbott to write another hit, The Fall Guy (1925). With his wife, Lucille Webster, he wrote the successful comedy The Shannons of Broadway (1927), and he also produced several plays. With the coming of sound films, Gleason moved to Hollywood, where he was long typecast in tough guy roles.

• Born: May 23, 1886 in New York City, New York
• Died: Apr 12, 1959 in Woodland Hills, California
• Occupation: Actor, Writer, Director
• Active: '30s-'50s
• Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
• Career Highlights: The Yellow Cab Man, The Life of Riley, Mammy
• First Major Screen Credit: Count of Ten (1928)

Biography

Character actor James Gleason usually played tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold. He is easily recognized for his tendency to talk out of the side of his mouth. Gleason's parents were actors, and after serving in the Spanish-American War, Gleason joined their stock company in Oakland, California. His career was interrupted by service in World War I, following which he began to appear on Broadway. He debuted onscreen in 1922, but didn't begin to appear regularly in films until 1928. Meanwhile, during the '20s he also wrote a number of plays and musicals, several of which were later made into films. In the early sound era, Gleason collaborated on numerous scripts as a screenwriter or dialogue specialist; he also directed one film, Hot Tip (1935). As an actor, he appeared in character roles in over 150 films, playing a wide range of hard-boiled (and often semi-comic) urban characters, including detectives, reporters, marine sergeants, gamblers, fight managers, and heroes' pals. In a series of films in the '30s, he had a recurring lead role as slow-witted police inspector Oscar Piper. James Gleason was married to actress Lucille Webster Gleason; their son was actor Russell Gleason. ~ All Movie Guide

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(1882-1959)

1925

The Fall Guy. The first of Gleason's two comedies to run during the 1925 season deals with the comic implications of prohibition. The other is Is Zat So? about down-on-their-luck boxers who agree to impersonate a butler and a footman. Gleason was a veteran stage actor since childhood; Abbott was an actor, playwright, director, and producer who would be responsible in some capacity for hits such as Broadway (1926), Twentieth Century (1932), Pal Joey (1940), The Pajama Game (1954), and Damn Yankees (1955).

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