Marilyn Gleason: What happened to Jackie Gleason’s wife?

Marilyn Gleason

Marilyn Gleason was an American Actress and also the wife of Jackie Gleason. Marilyn Gleason’s husband was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city-bus-driver character Ralph Kramden in the television series The Honeymooners. Because of his great performances, he was known affectionately as “The Great One.”

Marilyn Gleason: Bio Summary

Full NameMarilyn Gleason
Other nameMarilyn Taylor
famous aswife of Jackie Gleason
Age 93 years old at time of death
Date of BirthOctober 6, 1925 
Place of BirthChicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Zodiac signLibra
NationalityAmerican
EthnicityCaucasian
Siblings  June Taylor
Parents  Percival Guy Taylor, Angela Taylor
spouse Jackie Gleason (m. 1975–1987)

Marilyn Gleason was born on October 25, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is the daughter of  Percival Guy Taylor and Angela Taylor. She was not the only child of her parents. She has a sister whose name is  June Taylor. Unfortunately, She died on April 2, 2019, Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA at Broward Health Medical Center. She died at the age of 93.

She was an actress, known for The Toy (1982), Mr. Billion (1977), and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). She has been married twice and Jackie Gleason is the second man she got married to. Her first marriage was to George Horwich. They were married between  (1962 – 1972). She had a son Craig from her first marriage.

Aside from being an actress, she was also sometimes a dancer. In 1946, the June Taylor Girls (from four to eight dancers often featuring Marilyn) got booked into a Baltimore nightclub as “featured dancers.” In 1952, Gleason’s show moved from the failing DuMont network to CBS. The June Taylor Girls became the June Taylor Dancers.

ALSO, READ; Geraldine Gleason: Where is Jackie Gleason’s daughter now?

“By the early ’60s, Mom had moved to Chicago and she was running a store called Petite Repeat – a children’s clothing consignment store on Oak Street, the Rodeo Drive of Chicago,” Horwich said.

How did Marilyn Gleason and Jackie Gleason meet?

Jackie Gleason has been married thrice and Marilyn Gleason is the third woman he married. Jackie’s first marriage was to Genevieve Halford. The couple had two children Geraldine Gleason and Linda Miller. Though Halford wanted a quiet home life, Gleason on the other hand fell back into spending his nights out. Gleason and his wife informally separated again in 1951.

In early 1954, Gleason suffered a broken leg and ankle on air during his television show. Because of the injuries, he was sidelined for several weeks so he can get back to his feet. When Halford visited Gleason at the hospital, She found dancer Marilyn Taylor from his television show there.

“They dated all through the ‘’50s,” Marilyn Gleason’s son, Crag Horwich revealed. “But Jackie was in a Catholic marriage and divorce wasn’t an option, so the relationship ended.” Halford filed for a legal separation in April 1954. Halford and Gleason divorced in 1970.

ALSO, READ; Genevieve Halford- Truth about Jackie Gleason’s ex-wife

Ten days after his divorce from Halford was final, Gleason married his second wife Beverly McKittrick. Four years after their marriage, Marilyn Taylor and Jackie Gleason meet once again. As a widow, Marilyn moved to the Miami area to be near her sister who was also a dancer and had starred on Gleason’s shows for many years.

ALSO, READ; Beverly McKittrick: What happened to Jackie Gleason’s second wife

In September 1974, Gleason filed for divorce from McKittrick (who contested, asking for a reconciliation). The divorce was granted on November 19, 1975. Marilyn Taylor married Gleason on December 16, 1975; the marriage lasted until his death in 1987. As said earlier, she had a son from her previous marriage. Her son Craig Horwich spent his teen years living with her and Gleason in the family’s 14-room mansion at Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill.

“By this stage in Jackie’s life, his work was behind him,” Marilyn Gleason’s son said. “His priority was his home life. It really was with my mom. There weren’t a lot of goings on. It allowed mom to keep a very stable and normal and simple home life for me.”

Soon after the passing of Gleason, Marilyn sold the Inverrary mansion and moved to a Fort Lauderdale Beach penthouse, where she lived the rest of her life. Gleason died at age 71 in his Florida home. Horwich revealed his stepfather once compared his love affair with Marilyn to a Warner Bros. movie. “It had a perfect, happy ending and everybody fell in love.”

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  • Kennedy Gedzah is a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST (2018). He is the Owner and has been the lead content creator at Dicytrends.com since 2020. His Passion for providing people with credible and well-researched information on the internet led him to build Dicytrends.com. With more than 5 years of experience in blogging and writing, he has amassed sufficient knowledge on various topics, including biographies, fashion and lifestyles, Entertainment, and more. You can contact him via email: Kgedzah@gmail.com

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Kennedy Gedzah

Kennedy Gedzah is a graduate of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-KNUST (2018). He is the Owner and has been the lead content creator at Dicytrends.com since 2020. His Passion for providing people with credible and well-researched information on the internet led him to build Dicytrends.com. With more than 5 years of experience in blogging and writing, he has amassed sufficient knowledge on various topics, including biographies, fashion and lifestyles, Entertainment, and more. You can contact him via email: Kgedzah@gmail.com

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