Publicity photo from "The Hustler"

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Jackie Gleason

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When did Jackie get his first laugh on stage?

Robert Waldman
Graduation Day at P.S. 73. (From The Golden Ham by Jim Bishop): "He knocked a microphone stand off the stage... The principal picked it up and sat it back on the stage. Gleason knocked it off again. Again the principal put it back.

Gleason waited for quiet. Then he shouted, "That's the first time you ever did anything for us kids." The parents roared with laughter and applauded. Jackie Gleason had won his first laugh."