LAKE WYNONAH - Jan Dunkling remembers getting roses from Jackie Gleason.
The 67-year-old was once one of 16 women who were part of the June Taylor dancers on "Jackie Gleason and His American Scene Magazine," which debuted in 1962.
Today would be Gleason's 96th birthday. He died June 24, 1987, at age 71.
Gleason was perhaps best known in his role as Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners."
"Every week when we taped the show (on a Tuesday) every female on his show got a dozen long stem roses," Dunkling said. "It was his tradition. They were all piled up at the stage door and as we went home we just picked up our box of roses. He was a really great guy."
She said she now doesn't like roses because she received them so often.
Dunkling was chosen from 32 dancers - from an original 700 - who auditioned for the show. She was 18 when she got the part.
She had been a June Taylor dancer since she was 14.
Gleason and his producer chose her and the 16 others for the honor.
"I was lucky I guess," she said.
She was a dancer on the show from 1962 until aboutthe middle of 1963 when she injured her foot during a rehearsal. She would not return to the show (the concrete floor was too hard on her feet, she said) and instead became a Rockette in New York City, which she did for 2 1/2 years. The Rockettes are dancers who perform at Radio City Music Hall.
Dunkling remembers how she was driving in her car when she heard the news of his death. While she was sad to learn of his passing, her thoughts turned to his wife, Marilyn, who was June Taylor's sister. Dunkling had the opportunity recently to meet up with Marilyn.
Dunkling said she never had a desire to be a dancer. When she was 2 1/2 years old, her mother told her, the family doctor said she should be a dancer because she was very energetic.
She isn't one to promote her experience on the show or with the dancers.
"People don't understand that it's a job, and it's hard work. We rehearsed eight hours a day for five days straight. The sixth day we went to the camera studio and that's where they practiced with the camera shots."
The dancers had to sign weekly contracts "because if there was something that you did wrong on the taping or you made a mistake, that was an automatic firing. You just didn't come back the next week."
Handling the pressure of a perfect performance was just something she dealt with.
"You just did what you had to do," she said.
That's not to say Taylor wasn't a nice person, Dunkling said.
Of Gleason, she said, "He was an artist. He was very good and you never heard any scandal about him. There was never anything."