. He was also a
Balding and slender with a craggy voice and a master of the double-take, Gleason portrayed tough but warm-hearted characters, usually with a New York background. He appeared in several movies with his wife Lucille.
, the second film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and had a small uncredited role in it. Gleason also co-wrote and briefly appeared as a hot dog vendor in the 1934
. He played a milk cart driver who gives lessons in marriage to
, while Lucille played his wife. In the same year, he played the bartender in the film adaptation of
Gleason also is remembered for playing police Inspector Oscar Piper in a series of Hildegarde Withers mystery films during the 1930s (which first starred
in the role of the schoolteacher detective in three films.
James and Lucille Gleason had a son, Russell Gleason, who briefly worked as a film actor before being drafted into the army during World War Two. He died in unexplained circumstances (officially an accident), falling out the window of a Manhattan hotel shortly before his regiment was due to leave for a combat posting in Europe. Russell Gleason was married to Cynthia Lindsay, a former Busby Berkeley chorus girl who later wrote a biography of family friend Boris Karloff.
| Year |
Film |
Role |
Notes |
| 1930 -Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios*Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee*Best Actor: George Arliss - Disraeli...
|
Puttin' on the RitzPuttin' on the Ritz is a 1930 musical film, directed by Edward Sloman and starred Harry Richman, Joan Bennett, and James Gleason. The screenplay was written by James Gleason and William K. Wells, based on story by John W. Considine Jr.....
|
James "Jimmy" Tierney |
Also credited with writing dialogue |
| The Matrimonial Bed The Matrimonial Bed is a Pre-Code comedy film produced and released by Warner Bros.. It was based on the French play by André Mouézy-Éon and Yves Mirande...
|
Gustave Corton |
|
| 1931 -Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Cimarron - MGM*Best Actor: Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul*Best Actor: Wallace Beery - The Champ*Best Actor: Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*Best Actress: Marie Dressler - Min and Bill...
|
A Free Soul A Free Soul is a Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had previously gotten an acquittal for on a murder charge...
|
Eddie |
|
| 1932 -Events:*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released.-Academy Awards:...
|
Lady and Gent -Cast:* George Bancroft - Stag Bailey* Wynne Gibson - Puff Rogers* Charles Starrett - Ted Streaver* James Gleason - Pin Streaver* John Wayne - Buzz Kinney* Morgan Wallace - Cash Enright* James Crane - McSweeley* William Halligan - Doc Hayes...
|
Pin Streaver |
|
| Penguin Pool Murder Penguin Pool Murder is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers, a witness in a murder case at the zoo, and James Gleason as the police inspector who investigates...
|
Police Inspector Oscar Piper |
|
| 1933 -Events:*British Film Institute founded.*March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey....
|
Mister Mugg Mister Mugg is a 1933 short comedy film directed by James W. Horne. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1933 for Best Short Subject . -Cast:* James Gleason* Dorothy Christy* Ben Alexander* Otis Harlan* Norman Rhodes* Jack Pennick...
|
Comedy short |
| 1934 -Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
|
Murder on the Blackboard Murder on the Blackboard is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Together, they investigate a murder at Withers' school...
|
Inspector Oscar Piper |
|
| Change of Heart The term Change of Heart refers to changing ones opinion, belief or decision.It also may refer to:In film* Change of Heart , a 1934 movie starring Janet GaynorIn music:...
|
Hot Dog Vendor |
Also credited as screenwriter |
| 1935 -Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .* Six year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty - MGM*Best Actor: Victor McLaglen - The Informer...
|
Murder on a Honeymoon Murder on a Honeymoon is a mystery film starring Edna May Oliver and James Gleason. This was the third and last time Oliver portrayed astute schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers, who in this film witnesses the death of an airplane passenger...
|
Inspector Oscar Piper |
|
| West Point of the Air West Point of the Air is a 1935 film starring Wallace Beery, about pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the early 1930's. The supporting cast includes Robert Young, Lewis Stone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Rosalind Russell, and Robert Taylor. The movie was directed by Richard Rosson...
|
Joe "Bags" |
|
| 1936 The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*nov 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon*February 15 - first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, released*September 28 - The Marx Brothers' Harpo Marx marries actress Susan Fleming...
|
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford The Ex-Mrs. Bradford is a 1936 mystery film starring William Powell and Jean Arthur as a divorced couple who investigate a murder at a racetrack.-Cast:*William Powell as Dr...
|
Inspector Corrigan |
|
| Yours for the Asking Yours for the Asking is a 1936 film starring George Raft as a casino owner and Dolores Costello as the socialite he hires as hostess. The movie also features Ida Lupino and was directed by Alexander Hall.-Cast:*George Raft as Johnny Lamb...
|
Saratoga |
|
| 1941 The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
|
Meet John Doe Meet John Doe is a 1941 comedy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film, about a "grassroots" political campaign, created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist and pursued by a wealthy businessman, became a box office hit and was...
|
Henry Connell |
|
| Here Comes Mr. Jordan Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a comedy film in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heaven before his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes. The movie was adapted by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller from the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry...
|
Max Corkle |
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
|
| Babes on Broadway Babes on Broadway is a 1941 musical movie starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, and Virginia Weidler and directed by Busby Berkeley...
|
Thornton Reed |
|
| 1942 The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, Casablanca..-Events:...
|
Tales of ManhattanTales of Manhattan is a 1942 black-and-white anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier.Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart worked on the six stories in this film, three of which were released.-Cast:* Charles Boyer as...
|
"Father" Joe |
|
| 1943 The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :-16th Academy Awards:*Background to Danger, by Raoul Walsh with Peter Lorre*Bataan*Bombardier, starring Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, and Anne Shirley...
|
A Guy Named Joe A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film made by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Everett Riskin, from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm...
|
"Nails" Kilpatrick |
|
| 1944 The year 1944 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.*September 6 - Double Indemnity is released.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:...
|
Once Upon a Time Once Upon a Time is a 1944 fantasy film. Cary Grant plays a conniving showman who needs money desperately to save his theater.-Plot:Jerry Flynn has to come up with $100,000 within a week to keep his theater...
|
McGillicuddy, aka the "Moke" |
|
The Keys of the KingdomThe Keys of the Kingdom is a 1944 American film based on the 1941 novel, The Keys of the Kingdom, by A. J. Cronin. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson, directed by John M. Stahl and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...
|
Reverend Dr. Wilbur Fiske |
|
| Arsenic and Old Lace Arsenic and Old Lace is a 1944 film directed by Frank Capra based on a play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The script was adapted by Julius J. Epstein. Capra actually filmed the movie in 1941, but it was not released until 1944, after the original stage version had finished its run on...
|
Police Lieutenant Rooney |
|
| 1945 The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
|
This Man's Navy This Man's Navy is a World War II film about U.S. Navy airships starring Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, and James Gleason, and directed by William A. Wellman.-Cast:*Wallace Beery as Ned Trumpet*Tom Drake as Jess Weaver*James Gleason as Jimmy Shannon...
|
Jimmy Shannon |
|
| A Tree Grows in Brooklyn A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a 1945 film, the first film directed by Greek-American director Elia Kazan, starring James Dunn , Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner....
|
Bartender |
|
| The Clock The Clock is a 1945 film starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker and directed by Judy Garland's future husband, Vincente Minnelli. This was Garland's first dramatic role as well as the first motion picture she starred in, in which she did not sing....
|
Milk Cart Driver |
|
| 1947 The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten."*November 25...
|
Down to Earth Down to Earth is a musical comedy starring Rita Hayworth and Larry Parks, and directed by Alexander Hall. It is a sequel to the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also directed by Hall. Edward Everett Horton and James Gleason reprise their roles from the earlier film, but Roland Culver replaces...
|
Max Corkle |
|
| The Bishop's Wife The Bishop's Wife is a Samuel Goldwyn romantic comedy feature film starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven in a story about an angel who helps a bishop with his problems. It was released by RKO. The film was adapted by Leonardo Bercovici and Robert E...
|
Sylvester |
|
| Tycoon -Cast:* John Wayne - Johnny Munroe* Laraine Day - Maura Alexander Munroe* Cedric Hardwicke - Frederick Alexander* Judith Anderson - Miss Braithwaite* James Gleason - Pop Mathews* Anthony Quinn - Ricky Vegas* Grant Withers - Fog Harris* Paul Fix - Joe...
|
Pop Mathews |
|
| 1950 The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
|
The Yellow Cab Man The Yellow Cab Man is a 1950 comedy film directed by Jack Donohue starring Red Skelton, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Arnold. The inventor of unbreakable glass tries to sell it to a taxicab company, hoping that they will make unbreakable windshields.-Cast:*Red Skelton as Augustus 'Red' Pirdy*Gloria...
|
Mickey Corkins |
|
| Riding High Riding High is a black and white musical racetrack film featuring Bing Crosby and directed by Frank Capra in which the songs were actually sung as the movie was being filmed instead of the customary lip-synching to previous recordings. The movie is a remake of an earlier Capra film called...
|
Racing Secretary |
|
| The Jackpot The Jackpot is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring James Stewart. The film is mostly forgotten today, but was a successful vehicle for Stewart at the time, and featured a young Natalie Wood.-Plot:...
|
Harry Summers |
|
| 1951 The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
|
I'll See You in My Dreams |
Fred Thompson |
|
| 1952 The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
|
We're Not Married!We're Not Married is a 1952 romantic comedy film starring Ginger Rogers, Fred Allen, and Marilyn Monroe.- Plot :When elderly Mr. Bush is appointed justice of the peace, he starts marrying couples on Christmas Eve. However, his appointment is only valid on the first of January...
|
Duffy |
|
| What Price Glory? What Price Glory is a 1952 World War I film based on a 1924 play by Maxwell Anderson and Laurence Stallings, though it used virtually none of Anderson's dialogue. Originally intended as a musical, it was filmed as a straight comedy, directed by John Ford and released by 20th Century Fox on 22...
|
General Cokely |
|
| 1954 The year 1954 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda. The two were married in 1927.* A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed...
|
Suddenly |
Peter "Pop" Benson |
|
| 1955 The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
|
The Night of the HunterThe Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton...
|
Birdie Steptoe |
|
| 1957 The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
|
Loving You Loving You is an American motion picture directed by Hal Kanter, released by Paramount Pictures on July 9, 1957. The film stars Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. It is Presley's second movie, his first in Technicolor and the first with Elvis as the primary focus...
|
Carl Meade |
|
| 1958 The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date...
|
The Last HurrahThe Last Hurrah is a 1958 film adaptation of the novel The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor. It was directed by John Ford and starred Spencer Tracy as a veteran mayor preparing for yet another election campaign...
|
"Cuke" Gillen |
|