Teresa Ganzel

The Toy (1982), starring Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty

The Toy is a comedy starring Richard Pryor —  Jackie Gleason isn’t as much a co-star as a secondary character, but very important —  he’s the antagonist. He plays U.S. Bates, a veritable living caricature of the wealthy millionaire. Some people consider U.S.  Bates  to be racist because he treats Richard Pryor like his personal property, but that’s not correct. U.S. Bates treats  everyone that way — his employees (Ned Beatty shines as a yes-man employee, who will do whatever his boss says — but hates himself for doing so), his butler (Wilfrid Hyde-White, who performs wonderfully as the butler that Bates won in a card game), his third wife (Teresa Ganzel as Fancy), etc. Absolutely everyone — except his young son, Eric, whom he truly loves — but has no relationship with.