Welles and Jackie Gleason - "The Great One"

[Harvey Chartrand]

From Modern Drunkard Magazine (I kid you not):

"Jackie Gleason didn’t always fall short of his boasts. He and fellow heavyweight drunkard Orson Welles were drinking up a storm at the Stork Club when Orson Welles broached the subject of Shakespeare. Jackie claimed to know much of the Bard’s work by heart, and Welles, doubting his Brooklyn grade-school dropout’s boast, intentionally misquoted an obscure line from Aeschylus. Jackie Gleason immediately corrected him, prompting Welles to declare, “You’re the Great One!” The name stuck."

[Cole]

That’s an interesting nugget of information, Harvey. I don’t suppose you know when this incident occurred? I wonder if it happened before Welles made THE TRIAL, and whether Jackie Gleason’s knowledge of Shakespeare somehow influenced Welles to select Gleason for the role of the lawyer, Hastler, in the movie. I’ve always thought Gleason would have made a good Hastler although I also think Welles’ performance in that role was near perfection.

I guess now when we write of a “Great One” we have to be more specific as to whom we are referring. And by the way Harvey, what are you doing reading “Modern Drunkard Magazine”?? :p

[Jeff Wilson]

Clearly someone was drunk, since Gleason claimed to know Shakespeare, and Welles quoted him Aeschylus. I eagerly await the future debut of Smackfiend Today or Cokeheads Unite and similar journals of indulgence appreciation. I'm sure today's stars will have plenty of anecdotes to fill its pages...

In other magazine news, the current issue of Outre includes an article on Welles and "War of the Worlds" in an issue dedicated to the Red Planet.

[Cole]

Well, that’s a horse on me, to quote Georgie Minafer. I thought “Aeschylus” sounded awfully obscure for a Shakespeare title. The name didn’t click at first.