Jackie Gleason, who lived from 1916 to 1987, was best known as Ralph Kramden in “The Honeymooners.” From 1964 to 1970, his television variety show was broadcast from this theater, which had been built in 1950 as part of the Miami Beach Convention Center Complex. Originally called the Miami Beach Auditorium, it became the Theater of Performing Arts in 1976. On July 16, 1987, the City Commission voted to rename the theater in his honor as the Jackie Gleason Theater. The renaming was especially appropriate because Gleason was not only a comedian but also a musician, a composer, and a dramatic actor. Gleason said, “Miami Beach audiences are the greatest in the world.”