Charles Durning

Durning received Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 and for To Be or Not to Be in 1983. Jackie Gleason is interred in the Our Lady Of Mercy Cemetery, Miami Beach, Florida. More recently he has played a benevolent father to Holly Hunter in Home for the Holidays (1995), and a savvy southern state governor ("Pappy" O'Daniel) in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. There was even a report that Richard Nixon took Gleason to view the remains of aliens killed in the crash of a flying saucer, but as this particular report first appeared in the pages of the National Enquirer, it is dubious at best. In Tootsie he played a suitor to a cross-dressing Dustin Hoffman, and worked again with Hoffman in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman. Gleason apparently believed in UFOs, and claimed to have seen them himself. Since then he has amassed over 100 film and TV credits, including Dog Day Afternoon (with Al Pacino), the sci-fi classic The Final Countdown, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Justice in the Smokey and the Bandit series of fims.

One of Durning's best-known roles is the crooked bunco cop Lieutennant Snyder who doggedly pursues the young con artist Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) in the 1973 classic The Sting. Later in life, Jackie Gleason gained fame for his portrayal of Sheriff Buford T. He has since performed in some 32 plays, including the Tony Award-winning That Championship Season. In his early life he was known for his fatness, but later he slimmed down. While working as a ballroom dance instructor (he had some training in classical dance) he was noticed and cast in the New York Shakespeare Festival. His trademark phrase was "How sweet it is!" during the applause when he first opened his comedy act. After the war, Durning worked various jobs. In the 1960s he had his own show entitled The Jackie Gleason Show.

He has said he still suffers from nightmares about his war experiences. Later it was recast. Durning is well-known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans. In the late 1940s he played Chester Riley in the The Life of Riley situation comedy in its first incarnation. He also participated in the Normandy Invasion. Ralph, his buddy Ed Norton, and their wives Alice Kramden and Trixie Norton were later transplanted into the stone age as The Flintstones, the entire show being a transparent tribute to The Honeymooners. One of his injuries took place in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was one of the few to survive an attack on American POWs. Herbert John (Jackie) Gleason The Great One-(February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987) was a Brooklyn-born comedian famous for brash humor and fast ad-libs who immortalized his Brooklyn neighborhood in The Honeymooners, playing bus driver Ralph Kramden.

Army Ranger in World War II, during which he was awarded a Silver Star and three Purple Heart medals. Durning served as a U.S. An eminent character actor, Durning is known for his versatility and for sometimes outperforming the main actors in his films. Charles Durning (born February 28, 1923) is an American actor of stage and screen.