Don't You Forget About...
Paul Gleason, R.I.P.
Perhaps best known as the staunch, Saturday school proctor in The Breakfast Club, the late 67 year old actor was quite the athlete in his day. In the late 1950s Gleason played 3 1/2 years of minor league ball for the Indians as well as the Red Sox. In addition Paul reportedly played football at Florida State (but in doing our requiste research we discovered that Gleason didn't letter in the sport) and Gleason reportedly took up acting after seeing a movie with his friend Jack Kerouac (who incidently also played college football at Columbia.)
Some die hard Star Wars fans might also remember Gleason as Jermitt in 1985's TV special Ewoks: The Battle for Endor while other Diehard fans might remember him as deputy officer Dwayne T. Robinson in the original action caper in 1988. Others might note his resemblance to Del Harris the former Laker coach and current Mavericks assistant.
Gleason succumbed to lung cancer (due to asbestos) over the long Memorial Day weekend on of all days.. Saturday. We hope Gleason is enjoying detention free weekends in the sky and we at the thewadeblogs.com leave him with this tribute letter a la the Breakfast Club.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Dear Mr. Vernon:
People might think we're crazy writing an essay
telling them who we think you were.
The fact is we do care.
People sometimes only see actors as
you were seen on the screen... in the simplest terms, the most convenient
definitions.
But what we found out is that you were much more than just a brain (Gleason was also a published poet), an
athlete, a basket case (he was the taped-up ape love interest in Trading Places), and a criminal (Paul played a bad guy in the A-Team). We hope you are enjoying a peaceful, detention free weekends in the sky.
Sincerely Yours,
The (wadeblogs) Breakfast Club
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