<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations . Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations . (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations . Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations . (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The Life of Riley was an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a long - running 1950s television series (originally with Jackie Gleason as Riley for one truncated season, then with Bendix for six seasons), and a 1958 comic book . William Bendix played the title role . </P> <P> Irving Brecher created the radio series for friend Groucho Marx . Originally titled The Flotsam Family, the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head - of - household role for Groucho (Marx went on to host Blue Ribbon Town from 1943 to 1944 and then You Bet Your Life from 1947 to 1961). Creator and producer Brecher saw William Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in Hal Roach's The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). Brecher stated, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him . I thought, This guy could play it . He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name . So I took The Flotsam Family script, revised it, made it a Brooklyn Family, took out the flippancies and made it more meat - and - potatoes, and thought of a new title, The Life of Riley . Bendix's delivery and the spin he put on his lines made it work ." </P>

Who is riley in living the life of riley