Cavalcade of Stars TV SHOW Jackie Gleason

Gleason's first variety series was aired on the DuMont Network under the title Cavalcade of Stars. After original host Jerry Lester quit the show in 1950, Gleason — who had made his mark on the first television incarnation of the Life of Riley sitcom — stepped into Cavalcade and became an immediate sensation. The show was broadcast live, in front of a theater audience, and offered the same kind of vaudevillian entertainment common to early-TV revues. Jackie's guests included New York-based performers of stage and screen, including Bert Wheeler. Smith and Dale, and Vivian Blaine. Production values were decent but not spectacular, owing to DuMont's humble facilities and a thrifty sponsor (the nation's neighborhood drug stores).

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Entertainment

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• Cavalcade
• of
• Stars