The JACKIE GLEASON Only I Knew

THE GREAT ONE'S STEPSON REMEMBERS A MAN WHO WAS PASSIONATE ABOUT LEARNING, LIFE AND LOVE

- Susan Hornik

When Jackie Gleason became interested in something, he gave it his full attention. He might spend two whole days reading books about UFOs or psychic phenomenon. He worked diligently on his pool and golf games and could tinker for hours with his collection of shortwave radios. His favorite TV shows were documentaries on PBS. "When he was home, he was quiet, gentle, very pensive," his stepson, Craig Horwich, recalls to Closer.

Though The Honeymooners' loudmouth Ralph Kramden made Jackie a TV legend, he was a different man in real life, especially in his later years, when his legacy was already secure. Settled into a satisfying last chapter with his third wife, Craig's mother, Marilyn Taylor, Jackie still took jobs that appealed to him, but he had nothing to prove. "He was doing some TV specials, a handful of movies, but was pretty much in semiretirement," says Craig, who was 12 when his mom wed Jackie in 1975.