Lucile Gleason ( Webster; February 6, 1888 – May 18, 1947) was an American stage and screen actress. Gleason was also a civic worker who was active in film colony projects.

Early life

Lucile Webster was born on February 6, 1888, in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

Career

Stage

Gleasons-The-Shannons-of-Broadway-cropped

Lucile Webster went on stage as a teen working with her father's stock company. After she married actor James Gleason, she realized stage success in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in a production of ''The Shannons of Broadway'' (1927), written by her husband. The play was adapted for a 1929 film of the same name, and was later made into the film ''

Goodbye Broadway ''Goodbye Broadway'' is a 1938 American film. The movie is based on the play ''The Shannons of Broadway'' written by actor (and ex-vaudevillian) James Gleason. A previous film had been made of the play entitled ''The Shannons of Broadway''. Pl ...

'' (1938).

Film

Gleason's motion picture career started with several movies in 1929 and continued until 1945. The Gleasons continued to perform together in Hollywood. In 1929 they co-starred in ''

The Shannons of Broadway ''The Shannons of Broadway'' is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring James Gleason, Lucile Gleason and Mary Philbin. It was based on James Gleason's 1927 play of the same title, which was later remade as ''Goodbye ...

''. In 1945, they made '' The Clock'', with Lucile playing the role of Mrs. Al Henry, the wife of her husband's character.

Higgins Family films

Their son, Russell, was paired with his parents in the farcical family comedy, ''The Higgins Family'', in 1938. The story centers around Lucile's performance in two radio programs which threaten to derail her husband's advertising business. The trio was also featured in ''Grandpa Goes to Town'', another Higgins saga, in 1940.

Activism

She was a vice-president of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

and was a member of the Hollywood

U.S.O. The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

and the Veterans' Service Council. In 1947 she was named ''Mother of 1947'' in a

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

observance conducted by the U.S.O. In the 1930s Gleason served on the advisory board of the

Federal Theater Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States. It was one of five Federal Pro ...

. On several occasions she was an unsuccessful candidate for political office. In 1944 Gleason ran for the Assembly from the 59th District in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 1946 she was defeated by then incumbent Secretary of State Frank Jordan.

Personal life

Gleason became the wife of actor

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

in 1905, when the couple married in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. She took his surname as her professional and legal surname. Her only child was actor

Russell Gleason Russell Gleason (February 6, 1908 – December 25, 1945) was an American actor who began his career at the very beginning of the talking film era. Born into an acting family, one of his earliest roles was in the 1930 classic film, ''All Quiet on ...

(1908-1945), whose most prominent role came in the Academy Award-winning version of '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930), in which he played the role of Private Mueller. On December 26, 1945, Russell Gleason was in New York City when he fell to his death out of a fourth story window in the Hotel Sutton. He had been awaiting deployment to Europe with his regiment in the hotel, which the army had commandeered to house the troops. Reports varied, some saying the fall was accidental, while others stating it was a suicide.

Death

Gleason died in her sleep, apparently of heart disease in 1947, aged 59, at her home in Brentwood, California.

Filmography

References

Sources

* ''Fresno Bee'', "Actress Lucile Gleason Dies In Hollywood", May 19, 1947, p. 3 * ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', "Lucile Gleason, Film Actress, Dies in Sleep", May 19, 1947, p. A1 * ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'', "Gleasons Score At Grand Lake", October 28, 1938, p. 37

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Lucile 1888 births 1947 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American stage actresses Actresses from Pasadena, California