Jackie Gleason, 1916-1987, Entertainer

By CHRIS LAVIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 28, 1999

He arrived in Florida like the circus, on rails from the North, surrounded by clowning friends and a party that never ended.

Jackie Gleason had spent much of the '50s in the salons of New York, a pool player and a kingpin of the cocktail set. And in the early '60s, drawn by warmth and endless green carpets of golf, he brought his variety show and, weekly, America's gaze, to the Sunshine State.

In more than 150 weekly shows, he presented Florida as a suitable, even enviable home -- more than acceptable for Northern sophisticates. His was the first national television program to be broadcast permanently from Florida. Miami had to buy new cameras to do it.

Gleason was no has-been slinking away from failure in New York. He came with cast, crew, famous guests, even the June Taylor Dancers -- and with enough clout to get the network bosses to pony up for his Great Gleason Express train.

Most shows would start with the words "From the sun and fun capital of the world, Miami Beach, it's The Jackie Gleason Show." The Great One would bellow: "Miami Beach audiences are the greatest audiences in the world" at show's end.

How sweet it was.

Nothing lasts forever. Gleason fell out with the network but didn't leave Florida. He moved to a palace on a golf course -- how Florida can it get? -- and died quietly years later, surrounded by friends.

Florida's image, like its environment, has always been fragile. The chambers of commerce love the pristine beaches and perpetual sun, but from a distance, other images -- of land scams and God's waiting room -- always lurk. Other swell people followed Gleason's lead over the years -- Madonna, Sly Stallone, Gianni Versace -- but none seemed to fit as comfortably as Gleason; nor could they convey the good message so far and wide.

Don Johnson and Miami Vice never meant so much. Looking back, we should have known how well Gleason would play here.

Chris Lavin is the Times' assistant managing editor/world.