Rumor has it that director Garry Marshall would not go ahead with the making of this film without the inclusion of Jackie Gleason. In poor health, Gleason had grown tired of filmmaking, and wished to retire from the business. After several attempts to get him on board, Marshall finally called Gleason on the phone and insisted that if he didn't do this film, that the last film he would be remembered for was the box-office bomb Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). Gleason immediately accepted the offer on the condition that this would be his last acting role. In Marshall's 2012 memoir, "My Happy Days in Hollywood," he credits Ray Stark with asking Gleason the question about if he wanted "Smokey and the Bandit 3" being how he would be remembered.
Jackie Gleason was seriously ill with colon cancer, liver cancer, thromboses hemorrhoids, diabetes and phlebitis throughout production. One evening during filming, he admitted to his daughter that he only had a short time to live. He died nearly one year after the film's release, long enough to personally view the completed film which he was said to have enjoyed very much.
Actor Tom Hanks explained that some characters have nothing to do with you as a person - that you create them from scratch. He said, "But occasionally, you have to draw on your own experience. That was the case here. David Basner made me reconsider my own relationship with my parents." The role challenged Hanks to run a full emotional gauntlet.
How did Tom Hanks feel playing the son of the inimitable "Great One", Jackie Gleason? He said that there was a certain amount of awe beforehand, "but the first day on the set Jackie came over to me and said, 'How ya doin' kid?... let's make history. We threw our arms around each other, embraced, and it was easy from then on.''