The Great One

The Great One was Originally Posted on April 22, 2014 by lavarock

Something triggered a memory for me tonight. Back when I was very young, there was a TV show called “The Honeymooners” starring Jackie Gleason. One of the gags was when in character, he would open the window of his walk-up New York apartment and comment on the smell from the Chinese restaurant below.

During the time of the series we were living in New Jersey and would on occasion my parents would take us to New York City for dinner. My only memory of this was a Cantonese restaurant named Ruby Foo’s. The restaurant, not far from Broadway featured a terrace above the lower level tables. At one point my Father pointed to a table below hosting “The Great One”, Jackie Gleason. He sent me down to get an autograph. I guess he figured that a young kid could interrupt an actors meal without causing a problem. It seems to have worked.

By the way, my favorite dishes are Egg Foo Yung and Moo Goo Gui Pan.

For those of you who think that Jackie Gleason only did comedy, this dramatic movie called “Gigot”. It is definitely a memorable performance which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rihO-zKo2Xc