six Hildegarde Withers mystery films during the 1930s, starting with The Penguin Pool Murder, and Joe Higgins in the first seven of nine films about the Higgins Family, in which his wife Lucile and son Russell played Lil and Sydney Higgins. One of Gleason's best-known roles is Uncle Birdie, the kind-hearted ship captain plagued by alcohol and the memory of his deceased wife, in Charles Laughton's film noir classic The Night of the Hunter (1955). Gleason also performed in other media. In 1931, he co-starred with Robert Armstrong in the radio sitcom Gleason and Armstrong. His television credits include several episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the Reed Hadley legal drama The Public Defender and ABC's The Real McCoys. In "The Child", the Christmas 1957 episode of John Payne's The Restless Gun on NBC, Gleason and Anthony Caruso played Roman Catholic priests who run an orphanage. Dan Blocker, just launching his acting career, also guest starred in the episode. Gleason died in 1959 from complications related to asthma, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Gleason has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7038 Hollywood Boulevard. Family James and Lucile Gleason had a son, actor Russell Gleason. On December 26, 1945, the younger Gleason was in New York City awaiting deployment to Europe with his regiment, when he fell out of a fourth story window in the Hotel Sutton — which the army had commandeered to house the troops — resulting in his death. Reports varied, some saying the fall was accidental, while others stating it was a suicide. Russell's most prominent role had been as Muller in the Academy Award-winning version of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Russell Gleason was married to Cynthia Hobart (later becoming Cynthia Lindsay), a swimmer and stunt woman who later wrote a biography of family friend Boris Karloff. James Gleason was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Filmography See also List of actors with Academy Award nominations References External links 1882 births 1959 deaths American military personnel of the Spanish–American War United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male film actors American male radio actors American male stage actors American male television actors Deaths from asthma Male actors from New York City Burials