Add/Update Information: Jackie Gleason - Actor

Jackie Gleason was an American comedian and composer of Irish descent. After his father abandoned the family, young Gleason began hanging out with a gang in the streets. His mother died in 1935 when he was only 19 years old. He received his primary education in Brooklyn, then joined John Adams High School but did not graduate from it. He started working in nightclubs as a comedian, then in the mid-1950s, he switched to writing original music and recorded a series of successful albums. His notable films include The Hustler (1961) and Smokey and the Bandit (1977).