From JACKIE GLEASON'S AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE ( The Jackie Gleason Show- 1963) FOR LICENSING INQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT HISTORIC FILMS ARCHIVE (info@historicfilms.com / www.historicfilms.com / 800-249-1940)
My father managed our family nightclub in Massachusetts and knew Frank Fontaine. He ate dinner at our house once and ate a huge plate of spaghetti and giant meatballs and washed it down with Seagrams whiskey.
When growing up, we never missed a Jackie Gleason show. My favorite part was always Crazy Guggeheim and Joe the Bartender. Here we are, how many years later, and my appreciation for the gentle comic genius was raised again. I have tears running down my cheeks - of joy, of fond memories, of sadness he died too soon. What a delight finding this clip. What a delight hearing him sing again.
My mom and dad watched Jackie Gleason and Frank Fontaine (Crazy Gugeheim) as one of his few comedy skits on every Saturday night. Simple humor, but very effective. It's the way TV should be.
Dear Dave, what a gem. watcing this has made me very emotional as well .My grandfather and I used to love Joe and Crazy. hearing that song reminds me of my old neighborhood, and all those little corner bars on every street. those days are long gone, but those memories will forever live on.
So well said and so well put. My late stepdad was a big Jackie Gleason fan so my family watched his show every Saturday night when I was a kid in the 60s. Grew to love the show !!
Fortunately I met this man, via his manager and dined with them on Christmas Day. He kept us laughing all day long. He was a netural comedian. I also attended his last manager's daughters wedding. Mr. Fontaine sang Daddy's Little Girl and a number of other songs. Mr. Fontaine's son also sang and what an absolute privilege iot was to listen to these entertainers.
OMG! I just stumbled across this. I forgot all about Frank Fontaine and Jackie together. When I was little, 60 years ago, Saturday nights were big events for us on television.
@@southwestgal7 you are welcome. I'd do it all over again. Even though after the Vietnam War, most Americans disapproved of the Military. But it was my time to serve. My family has served in the military before World War One.
Can't speak for my mom..but her end days felt for her the same...their all gone now. her last best friend from the ol Gang passed 2 months after she did..he died of lonliness..he wanted to be up there with Mom and Dad and Aunts an Uncles.. and all these other people that they gave a name to. I miss them all during these hard times. I wish you well.
@@vapourtrail7194 Thank you for sharing this with many of us that will read it now and years to come. Also thank you for the well- wishes. We lost John Prine in 2020 to covid, he wrote one of the saddest and touching songs about getting old and loneliness called "Hello in There". Give it a listen if you have never heard it. God bless you.
What an incredibly smooth voice Frank had. Seeing an odd character morph into a voice of gold like this, one can't help draw parallels between Frank's Crazy and Jim Nabors' Gomer Pyle.
actually, the character of gomer pyle was a creation of the writing team (everett greenbaum and jim fritzell) from 'the andy griffith show'. the name was a combination of 'gomer cool' (a writer) and 'denver pyle' (an actor). from google....
He sure was... the voice as "Crazy" and then the buautiful voice we enjoyed when Frank sang a ballad. We're not likely to see the likes of him... or Jackie Gleason... again. At least we have the memories, and treasures like this video,, to keep their spirits alive.
One of the most memorable things about my late father was when he used to imitate Guggenheims laugh. Now I do it with my family. I remember watching Jackie Gleason reruns with my Dad. Happiest times of my life.
@@BETTERWORLDSGT They used to, on PBS, back in the '80's. It was great to be reunited with that show. They only showed parts of each of The Jackie Gleason show that aired in the '60's. And when they showed the "Joe The Bartender" skits, they always left off the song he originally sang at the end of each skit. Too bad...I don't know that those original shows are available today. That variety show certainly was great.
@@waynej2608 It definitely was. It put a nice cap on the comedy bit. It let you know that Crazy Guggenheim, even though he was a little bit off-kilter, was sincere, and always graced us all with his beautiful renditions before he left.
For the better about some things. Longer life expectancy, less wars, less smoking, more advanced medical technology, no Jim Crow anymore, less communism, no constant fear of nuclear war. I know people our age like to reminisce but there is still a lot about now that's good. Just be glad you're alive.
It is sad.. We didnt realize just how great it was back in the 60's. Although I was just a boy then, to me.. looking back..it was Magical and that was largely due to my loving parents! God bless them up in Heaven! ✝ ⛪ 🧡 🎄🎅🏾
I was just a kid, and with my sisters we'd watch the Jackie Gleason show every single week. It was among the classics of the weekend night variety shows of the era - along with Red Skelton and Ed Sullivan. Days long gone and missed. And no, Saturday Night Live does not rate anywhere near these programs, not even close.
You sure said it! I was just a kid but I remember loving Red Skeleton, Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, Ed Sullivan, The Wonderful World of Disney and so on. I now get more and more sentimental when I think about times gone by.
@@royruddy3394 "Saturday Night Live" was definitely a different breed of show but they did put out two different "classic" periods. The original Not Ready for Prime Time Players" and the group that included the great Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Jan Hooks, Nora O'donnell, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey and a few others. Sonny & Cher even had a good variety show for a couple of years. At least SNL was never as terrible as the cheap imitation "Fridays" on ABC. ( Well there were a few really bad casts of SNL)
@@royruddy3394 . As great as the original cast of SNL was, even SNL back then cannot compare to "The Jackie Gleason", "The Ed Sullivan" and "The Red Skelton'' shows!
SNL: A pale imitation at best of excellent programs as Jackie Gleason and his fellow performers on his series, with Frank, Art, Audrey, Joyce, Sheila, and Jane!
I forgot about when Gleason pours Mr. Donahee his usual beer and sticks his finger in it to keep it from overflowing . I do that when I'm pouring a soda . Works everytime !😃😃😃
As a kid, living in North Carolina and Maryland, in the early-to-mid 1960's, I remember watching the Jackie Gleason Show from Miami Beach on TV, thinking how nice it would be to live there, amid the palm trees and swimming pools. Then, in 1966, my dad's career moved us to Miami, where we had a house with our own patio, palm trees, and swimming pool. It was paradise. "Those were the days!" I wish I had been able to see the show, live, at the Miami Beach Auditorium
I thought the same thing..why can't we move to Florida. My family would go to N.C. & Myrtle Beach S.C. in the summer. The humidity and bugs were so bad, I thought FLA. would be worse. I just wanted to get back to Michigan. Now I REALLY want to Move out of this state.😕
Gleasons last house in Miami went up for sale about a year ago. Wish my parents were still alive and I could buy it for them. We used to watch this show and even though I was a toddler then I can remember their laughter like it was yesterday.
These really bring back memories. I used to spend a lot of weekends at my grandparents and they always watched the Jackie Gleason Show along with the Red Skelton Show.
I remember Crazy G like it was yesterday, sitting in front of the TV on Saturday nights in St. Louis. I was 6. Now I'm 62 and I haven't laughed that hard again since then.
Gleason bellowing the ending to "My Gal Sal" at the end of these skits, with the bar doors closing on him and the orchestra's closing fanfare, was always great.
Even at my young age when craz finished his song I could feel a poiniant bit of time like it was slipping away too soon . how little did I know how right I was .
Frank was like Jim Nabors, playing a lovable goofy character then turns around and belts out a beautiful song like this one. Both men were jewels of humanity. Those of us who remember them, miss them. RIP Frank and Jim.
Me too! Crazy Guggenheim and Charlie Chapin's outfit and walk, were the hit in my house, when I was five. I used to break my family and neighbors up. Lol.
Everyone here feels the same when watching this clip.For a brief moment we're back in our living rooms.Our families all gathered around the TV for a shared experience.How great our lives then now seems we just didn't know it at the time.
OMG! Some of my earliest memories are of watching Jackie Gleason and laughing at Crazy Guggenheim with my family. We always tried to imitate him. I also remember crying at Gleasons 'Poor Soul'. What an emotional show.
My dads introduction for me to comedy, probably one of the first characters I did as a boy, along with Mr. ED, Jerry Lewis "hey lady", Snaggeltooths "hevens to murgatroid" and of course Curly from the Stooges....all of his great oneliners.
I can sound like that! That memorable voice as imitated as bugs bunny’s one time nemeseswannabw set is Pete puma, Sylvester the cats bestie Sam and huckleberry Hounds quarry Leroy the Lion. Eeeeeed!! Hiya Joe! True classic.
Those were the great days of television. I am 69 years old. I remember these episodes of the Jackie Gleason, and programs on Sunday like Walt Disney, Wild Kingdom, and Bonanza. My mom and dad, grandmother, and my brother and sister. My grandmother, parents, and sister are gone. My brother and l are left. Those were great family shows that l enjoyed watching on Saturday and Sunday. Forgot to mention The Ed Sullivan show. Great programs for any family to watch. Most programs on TV today are trash.
I remember watching the Jackie Gleason show as a child, my dad would watch it and me sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed , many Saturday nights great memories.
Although the show was before my time my parents would watch the show every week. They would laugh at crazy Guggenheim and Jackie Gleason. They are both in heaven now enjoying all the great comedies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Used to watch the show every week as a young boy, and in 1998 I got to play in the Jackie Gleason Theater! When I got onstage for the sound check, I played his theme song, Sunrise Serenade.
Watched with my dad when I was about 12 or so. Just after crazy's "parrot story" it sounded like Jackie momentarily forgot who was playing which character.
I noticed that as well, sir. At 1:58, Joe the Bartender calls Crazy Guggenheim "Joe". I'm 70 yrs old, and remember watching all those Gleason shows, but I don't think I ever knew Crazy's first name.
I'm 47, it was before my time but I really love these great entertainers. Absolutely wonderful, wish I could have lived in this great American age of the 50s and 60s. The modern world sucks.
I'll be 90 years old next year and I wish we all could go back to see the 1940's and 50's and 60's. Inflation was non- existent as my rent for a 6 room apartment was 35 dollars a month in the 50's. Everything cost a NICKLE like a cup of coffee, candy bar, buses and trolleys and Coca Cola, ice cream,etc. Hot dogs at Joe and Nemo's and Woolworth's were 15 cents. I also bought a 1946 Ford Woody station wagon running for $35 in 1959......The good old years and they were.....
Watched Jackie every week with my Mom and Dad. Mr. Guggenheim was always a favorite skit. Grew up in Miami, and Dad had a close connection to the show... Great memories...
I used to run home from playing with friends to catch The Jackie Gleason Show on Sundays (or The Red Skelton Hour on Saturdays). This little clip of that "old man bar" brings back those memories. I remember especially Frank Fontaine singing "The Easter Parade", which nicely capped off a festive Sunday. How cozy life was for me when I was eight or nine years old!
@@akrenwinkle Maybe in the New York Metropolitan Area (I lived in Ossining, NY) it was different - or perhaps *my* memory is wrong! I always linked Red Skelton with Saturday evenings, when I'd be called home from games with my friends, and Jackie Gleason with Sunday evenings, when I'd stay in and make sure I'd be ready for school the next day.
@@mrs.g.9816 I googled it for us. Red was on Tuesdays, Jackie's original broadcasts were Saturdays, but here's what threw me off about what you said: What day of the week was The Jackie Gleason Show on? Beginning in late December 1970 CBS began airing selected reruns of The Jackie Gleason Show (featuring only the color Honeymooners episodes) in prime time on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. which replaced the Tim Conway Comedy Hour.
Who knew Crazy could sing?? I looked for 'Crazy Guggenheim" years ago, and found nothing, and here he is today, Xmas Day 2020, showing up as big as day on You Tube! There IS a God.........
This was hilarious. Before my time but I loved Jackie Gleason growing up. My Mother was a huge fan of his in the 50's. What a beautiful voice Mr. Fontaine had. Wow....
I saw this in the early 70s, the later Jackie Gleason Show, and this one with Guggenheim on reruns even around 82 or so, but not since. I wish they had some Episodes!
When I saw this video, I literally started crying. As a kid I watched the Jackie Gleason show in the early 60s. And other than Gleason’s opening monologue this was the highlight of the show for me.
Me too. I really didn't care much for Jackie Gleason characters, but my Dad did. But when Joe the Bartender & Crazy came on... I Was on the floor Right In Front Of That T.V.😄
Tears! My brother (now in Heaven) and I used to sit in our toddler rocking chairs and watch The Jackie Gleason Show. We by mistake called Frank Fontaine “Fat” Fontaine. This was when TV was FAMILY oriented. Awesome memories 🍃♥️🍃
I absolutely love this skit! My old man back in the day loved to watch the Gleason show and when Frank Fontaine made an appearance, us kids had better be real quiet! These two guys between them had more talent then all of Hollywood today!
I remember this bit from when I was a kid. But even as a young boy, I could detect the great chemistry between Jackie Gleason and Fontaine. There was the surprising singing at the end of every skit, but good acting too. Plus excellent comedic timing between the two of them. They never stepped on each other. They complimented each other.
We used to all watch Jackie Gleason and he would always close the show with his Joe the Bartender skit. Crazy Guggenheim would always stagger in and he never failed to leave all of us laughing. Then Joe would yell, “Hey Craze, sing us a song!” And what a voice he had! The way Jackie Gleason would end his show by letting his character get upstaged by Frank Fontaine’s character only confirmed that it was more about entertaining his audience. No wonder they called Jackie Gleason “the Great One”.
Frankie Fontaine. I was a bit too young at the time to appreciate his magnificent talent, but my old pop thought the funny, funny gent sure could sing. Hope you RIP Mr. Frankie.
My family would watch the show every Saturday night. It was a never miss. As a kid, I Ioved Crazy Guggenheim. I remember it was advertised that he would be coming to our town to attend a function back in the mid '60's. There were probably 100 people at the airport to meet him. He was the last off the plane. When deplaning, he stood in the doorway and immediately became "Crazy" with the goofy eyes and waved at everyone. And he did not leave the airport until he shook hands with every last one of us. I went up and said Hi and he turned and said Hi ya pal and shook my hand. He was a class act that brought a lot of joy into people's lives.
Watched this with my Grandad Jo back in the 70's and 80s on Rte, then we would go to the pub around the corner he would sit me on the bar and I watched him mix with other men laughing and singing while the horse racing was on the tv in the corner. Thanks Grandad.
I had the pleasure of seeing Gleason's show in New York the night he literally broke his leg during his 'live' show. I was stationed in Queens New York (1954-55), a subway 15-'minuted ride to Manhatten. I was a contestant on "Name-That-Tune." Wow! What an experience.
I think maybe my first of many impressions was Fontaine's character seen here. It was clowning of a different sort. I was also fond of the rest of the Jackie Gleason show. Gleason, "The Great One", was a brilliant clown. I loved his other characters equally. He was such a great dramatic actor, too. These two played off of each other so very well, taped in front of a live audience, I reckon. Bravo and thank you to the uploader.
Like "Gomer Pyle" - the late Jim Nabors...what a surprise the viewers got when Fontaine and Nabors sang! I wonder what it would have been like if Frank had sang a time or two at the fame Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the "500" race day the immortal "Back Home Again in Indiana"? I think it would have been great. If I'm not mistaken, Frank Fontaine was one of the many celebrities at one of the 1960's races at Indy.
I remember this as part of his show Saturday nights....good old times...comedy was FUNNY not this damned P-C, you can't say a thing, offensive crap, and people just laughed at anything, it was funny....never as paranoid and serious as today
Frank fontaine was a great singer that nobody knew about, he sang back in the 1940's & 50's, may he R.I.P., i miss those old day's back in the early 1960's when tv was great to watch and the tv show's were about family's getting along with other family's and there was no guns or violence on tv just a beautiful time in my life and a beautiful time in our country. 😢😢😢😢, I'm 63 now & i would love to go back to those wonderful day's of the 1960's but it's impossible, those day's are long long gone now but it's always great to Remember those Fantastic great day's Growing up in that Era, i loved it and I'll never ever forget them not ever. 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
To think, I just downloaded Mr. Gleason's AND AWAY WE GO album on RU-vid Music. Guess what video RU-vid suddenly recommended? Glad I can see this classic comedy show, even a truncated version. For those who don't know, Mr. Denehy, whom Joe the Bartender would acknowledge yet was never seen by the audience, was Jackie's tribute to his first girlfriend. In real life, Denehy was the father of his first love!
My dad and I watched the Gleeson show every week, to him Fontaine was always the highlight of the show, he made you laugh and always sang, That old gang of mine was one of his favorites.
Wow..that is something to say. I will be 70 in July. I have a Ton of regrets wishing I could change so much from my past...but doing my Best Not To Have Anymore Regrets.
Just how many of you remember the incomparable ♥♥ FRANK FONTAINE ♥♥ sing after his "Crazy Guggenheim" bit ? Such sweet and fond memories watching this with my dear departed Father ♥♥♥♥
Frank Fontaine was a comedic genius! And my how he would sing! I loved watching him and Gleason on TV when I was a boy. I am 67 now and appreciate this act all the more today. What a smile and belly laugh this performance brings to me!
Gleason was a genius of comedy. He also helped tons of young people in this career. A real person including all his vices and short comings, the man was a real person.
I was just watching Jackie on Johnny Carson show back in 1985-86..he was promoting the movie he did with Tom Hanks...his last film role and he died shortly afterwards
I saw the Jackie gleason show as a child with my family. I always liked and appreciated shows like this. They were called variety shows and there was always songs and comedy. I've always wondered why this show was never rerun on repeats ever as far as I know.
I remember some other episodes where Frank was telling a story, then get off on some continuous loop tangent and Jackie would bring it to a halt by screaming “ALL RIGHT!!!” That was immediately followed by a Frank song accompanied by the jukebox. Funny stuff.
After Frank was talking about staying up late to watch The Late, Late, Late, Late, Late, Late, Late, Late, Late Show. He'd reach a certain number of 'Lates', and Joe would blow his stack
I remember asking for pretzels and ice water when this came on. When I first did it, my father asked, "How did you know that pretzels go together with a bar?" I was five. It just seemed like they did. Maybe I knew from another life! lol
