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Genevieve Halford is the ex-wife of Jackie Gleason. Genevieve Halford’s ex-husband, Jackie Gleason was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as “The Great One.” Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy, exemplified by his city-bus-driver Ralph Kramden character in the television series The Honeymooners. He also developed The Jackie Gleason Show, which maintained high ratings from the mid-1950s through 1970. After originating in New York City, filming moved to Miami Beach, Florida, in 1964 after Gleason took up permanent residence there.

Genevieve Halford: Bio Summary

Born in 1916 in the United States of America Genevieve Halford passed away at the age of 96 in Manhattan, New York, on 9 July 2012. She was the ex-wife of Jackie Gleason. Halford was a devout Catholic.

How did Jackie Gleason and his wife meet?

Jackie Gleason met dancer Genevieve Halford when they were working in vaudeville, and they started to date. Halford wanted to marry but Gleason was not ready to settle down. She said she would see other men if they did not marry.

One evening when Gleason went onstage at the Club Miami in Newark, New Jersey, he saw Halford in the front row with a date. At the end of his show, Gleason went to the table and proposed to Halford in front of her date. They got married on September 20, 1936.

Their marriage was blessed with two daughters, Geraldine Gleason (b. 1940) and Linda Miller (b. 1942). Halford wanted a quiet home life but her husband fell back into spending his nights out. The couple first separated in 1941 and reconciled in 1948, Gleason and his wife informally separated again in 1954.

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

In early 1954, Genevieve Halford’s ex-husband, Gleason suffered a broken leg and ankle on-air during his television show. His injuries sidelined him for several weeks. Halford visited Gleason while he was hospitalized, finding dancer Marilyn Taylor from his television show there.

ALSO, READ; Marilyn Gleason: What happened to Jackie Gleason’s wife?

“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. 

New York amended its divorce law in 1967 to permit living apart for two years after a separation decree has been entered as a ground for divorce, Jackie sued her for divorce. Halford bitterly contested the divorce, alleging that the 1967 reform law was unconstitutional because she had no warning that he would someday be able to use the 1954 separation decree to obtain a divorce from her. The New York Court of Appeals upheld the divorce in 1970.

Ten days after Genevieve Halford’s divorce from her ex-husband was final, her ex-husband, Halford Gleason, and his second wife, McKittrick got married in a registry ceremony in Ashford, England on July 4, 1970.

The couple were married for 33 years before calling it a quit. Their union was blessed with two children. Their first daughter Geraldine is now 82 years old and their second daughter Linda Mae is also 79 years old now. Much has not been heard from Genevieve Halford since her divorce until she passed away in 2012.

After their marriage came to end, Jackie got married to Beverly McKittrick ten days later in a registry ceremony in Ashford, England. After five years of marriage, Jackie filed for divorce from Beverly McKittrick and married Marilyn Gleason. They two stayed married until he died in 1987.

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

As early as 1952, when The Jackie Gleason Show was captured Saturday night for CBS, Genevieve Halford’s ex-husband, Gleason regularly smoked six packs of cigarettes a day.

In 1978, he suffered chest pains while touring in the lead role of Larry Gelbart’s play Sly Fox; this forced him to leave the show in Chicago and go to the hospital. He was treated and released, but after suffering another bout the following week, he returned and underwent triple-bypass surgery.

Gleason was also suffering from phlebitis and diabetes. “I won’t be around much longer”, he told his daughter at dinner one evening after a day of filming. Gleason kept his medical problems private, although there were rumors that he was seriously ill. A year later, on June 24, 1987, Gleason died at age 71 at his Florida home.

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