James Gleason

James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright, composer, and screenwriter born in New York City to Mina (née Crolius) and William L. Gleason. Coming from a theatrical family, he made stage appearances as a schoolboy during holidays. He left formal pursuits early, beginning to earn his own living at thirteen through work as a messenger boy, printer's devil, electrical store assistant, and lift operator. At sixteen he enlisted in the United States Army and served three years in the Philippines. Following his discharge, he returned to the stage, eventually performing professionally in London for two years. When World War I began, Gleason reenlisted in the Army and served through the end of the conflict.

After returning to the United States, Gleason established himself on Broadway as both a performer and writer, active on the New York stage from 1914 to 1927. His Broadway credits include the plays Is Zat So?, The Fall Guy, The Shannons of Broadway, The Lady Killer, and the musical Rain or Shine, among other productions. He acted in several of his own plays during this period.

Gleason transitioned into film by writing dialogue for comedies, and made his screen debut in Polly of the Follies (1922), starring Constance Talmadge. He co-wrote The Broadway Melody, the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, taking a small uncredited role in it as well. He also co-wrote the 1934 Janet Gaynor vehicle Change of Heart, in which he briefly appeared as a hot dog vendor. His screen persona — balding and slender, with a craggy voice and a facility for the double-take — lent itself to tough but warm-hearted characters typically rooted in a New York milieu.

Among his most recognized film performances, Gleason received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of boxing manager Max "Pop" Corkle in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). He headlined two film series during the 1930s: he played police inspector Oscar Piper across six Hildegarde Withers mystery films beginning with The Penguin Pool Murder, and portrayed Joe Higgins in the first seven of nine Higgins Family films, with his wife Lucile and son Russell appearing alongside him as Lil and Sydney Higgins. In the Frank Capra film Meet John Doe, he played the cynical editor who drives the newspaper's "John Doe" story. In The Clock (1945), he portrayed a milk cart driver who counsels the characters played by Judy Garland and Robert Walker on marriage, with Lucile playing his wife in the same film. That same year he appeared as the bartender in the film adaptation of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. His later career included the role of Uncle Birdie, a ship captain haunted by alcohol and the memory of his late wife, in Charles Laughton's 1955 film noir The Night of the Hunter.

Beyond stage and film, Gleason worked in radio and television. In 1931 he co-starred with Robert Armstrong in the radio sitcom Gleason and Armstrong. His television appearances included multiple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the Reed Hadley legal drama The Public Defender, ABC's The Real McCoys, and a 1957 Christmas episode of NBC's The Restless Gun, in which he and Anthony Caruso played Roman Catholic priests operating an orphanage.

Gleason and his wife Lucile had one son, actor Russell Gleason, whose most prominent film role was Muller in the Academy Award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Russell Gleason died on December 26, 1945, after falling from a fourth-story window at the Hotel Sutton in New York City, where his regiment was housed while awaiting deployment to Europe. Reports at the time differed as to whether the fall was accidental or a suicide. Russell had been married to Cynthia Hobart, a swimmer and stuntwoman who later authored a biography of family friend Boris Karloff.

James Gleason died on April 12, 1959, of asthmatic complications and was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, he holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7038 Hollywood Boulevard.