Hey Sunk, I loved ‘The Great One’! HE was a TRUE great, not like these kiddies who act like stars these days and the idiot public who know no better and think they are without peer. The old Gleason TV show with all of the skits and characters was wonderful to see. The Honeymooners was great also. His show from Miami was good but seemed stale some nights. I believe his best job of acting was as Minnesota Fats in The Hustler. Being from that world of pocket billiards scene long ago myself, I can tell you he nailed that role. Interesting enough, the worst thing about that movie was the BS pool shots, ie: shot selections, sequences, pace etc. Even tho the greatest, Willie Mosconi, was the pool tech. adviser. ‘Hollywood’ overruled his attempts at realistic action as it would really happen and demanded ‘tricks’ and ‘gag’ shots which would never be played as such in a high stakes 14.1 session. ‘Requiem for a Heavyweight’, (with a young Cassius Clay as sparring partner), was a role he nailed also. My favorite Gleason line was about Sammy Davis Jr. Said the Great One.......When Sammy hits the golf ball it goes a hundred years but his jewelery goes 150!!”. Then there was his work in music! Wow!! Never gonna be another like ‘im.
I think his last film role was in “Nothing In Common”, with Tom Hanks. It was a great way for him to go out.