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Audrey Meadows

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Audrey Meadows
Meadows in 1952
Born
Audrey Cotter

(1922-02-08)February 8, 1922
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 3, 1996(1996-02-03) (aged 73)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other nameAudrey Six
Occupations
  • Actress
  • memoirist
Years active1950–1995
Known forThe Honeymooners
Too Close for Comfort
Spouses
Randolph Rouse
​
​
(m. 1956; div. 1958)​
​
​
(m. 1961; died 1986)​
RelativesJayne Meadows (sister)
Websiteaudreymeadows.com
Jackie Gleason, Art Carney, and Meadows in The Honeymooners

Audrey Meadows (born Audrey Cotter; February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress who portrayed the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners. She was the younger sister of actress Jayne Meadows.

Early life

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Meadows was born Audrey Cotter in New York City[1][2] on February 8, 1922, the youngest of four siblings.[3] There was considerable confusion concerning her year of birth and place of birth for many years.[4][5][6]

Her parents, the Reverend Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, were Episcopal missionaries in Wuchang, China, where her three elder siblings were born. Her older sister was actress Jayne Meadows, and she had two older brothers. The family returned permanently to the United States in 1927.[3] Audrey attended high school at the Barrington School for Girls in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Moving to New York City to pursue her career, Audrey became a resident in the famed Rehearsal Club along with other aspiring actresses.[3]

Career

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The Honeymooners

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After high school, Meadows sang in the Broadway musical Top Banana before becoming a regular on television in The Bob and Ray Show.[7] She was then hired to play Alice on The Jackie Gleason Show after the actress who originated the role, Pert Kelton, was forced to leave the show due to blacklisting (but the official reason given was that Kelton was suffering from a health problem).[1]

When The Honeymooners became a half-hour sitcom, Meadows (who was six years younger than Gleason) continued in the role.[7] She then returned to play Alice after a long hiatus when Gleason produced occasional Honeymooners specials in the 1970s.[1] Meadows had auditioned for Gleason and was rejected for being too chic and pretty to play Alice. Realizing that she needed to change her appearance, Meadows the next day submitted a photo of herself, one in which she looked much plainer.[7][1] Gleason changed his mind, and she won the role of Alice.[1] The character of Alice became more associated with Meadows than with the others who played her, and she reprised her role as Alice on other shows as well, both in a man-on-the-street interview for The Steve Allen Show (Steve Allen was her brother-in-law) and in a parody sketch on The Jack Benny Program.[7][1]

Meadows was the only member of the Honeymooners cast to earn residual royalties after the "Classic 39" episodes of the show from 1955 to 1956 started airing in reruns. Her brother Edward, a lawyer, had inserted a clause into her original contract whereby she would be paid if the shows were re-broadcast, thus earning her millions of dollars.[8] When the "lost" Honeymooners episodes from the variety shows were released, Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton, received royalty payments.[9]

For her work on the show, Meadows was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (then for "In a Regular Series") at the 8th Primetime Emmy Awards. She lost to Nanette Fabray in Caesar's Hour.

Career outside The Honeymooners

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Meadows appeared in a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat", one of the 17 episodes in the 10-year series directed by Hitchcock, and a rare light-hearted one.

She appeared in feature films and on Dean Martin's television variety shows and celebrity roasts. She starred in an episode of Wagon Train in the episode's titled role of Nancy Palmer. Years later, Meadows played Ted Knight's mother-in-law in Too Close for Comfort (1982–1985). In real life, Meadows was only 1 year older than Knight.

She guest-starred on The Red Skelton Show, made an appearance in an episode of Murder, She Wrote ("If the Frame Fits"), and made an appearance in an episode of The Simpsons ("Old Money"), wherein she voiced the role of Bea Simmons, Grampa Simpson's girlfriend. During the second year of her second retirement, she returned to television in 1988 on CBS Summer Playhouse. Her last work was an appearance on Dave's World, in which she played the mother of Kenny (Shadoe Stevens).

In total, Meadows earned four Primetime Emmy nominations for her television work, winning one for The Jackie Gleason Show.

Personal life

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In 1956 (during the run of The Honeymooners), Meadows married Randolph Rouse, a wealthy real-estate businessman.[10] On August 24, 1961, Meadows married her second husband, Robert F. Six, president of Continental Airlines, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He died on October 6, 1986.[11]

Ronald Reagan and Meadows in 1986 at his 75th birthday party in the White House.

Banking and marketing career

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Meadows served as director of the First National Bank of Denver for 11 years, the first woman to hold the position. From 1961 to 1981, she was an advisory director of Continental Airlines, where she was actively involved in marketing programs that included the designs of flight attendant and customer-service agent uniforms, aircraft interiors and Continental's exclusive President's Club airport club lounges.[11]

Memoirs

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In October 1994, Meadows published her memoirs, Love, Alice: My Life As A Honeymooner.[7]

Illness and death

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A longtime smoker, Meadows was diagnosed with lung cancer and given a year to live in 1995.[1] She declined all but palliative treatment and died on February 3, 1996, after she slipped into a coma at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[1] She was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, next to her second husband. Her headstone mistakenly shows her birth year as 1926.[12][13]

Legacy

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Meadows was portrayed by Kristen Dalton in Gleason, a 2002 television film about the life of Jackie Gleason.[14]

Filmography

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Film and television
Year Title Role Notes
1950The Baron of ArizonaTownswoman in Court SceneUncredited
1951The Amazing Mr. MaloneSeason 1 Episode 1: "Blood Is Thicker Than Water"
1951–1952Bob & RayRegular
1952Lux Video TheatreThe SingerSeason 2 Episode 21: "Ceylon Treasure"
1952Pulitzer Prize PlayhouseLady MarySeason 2 Episode 7: "Monsieur Beaucaire"
1952–1957The Jackie Gleason ShowAlice Kramden / Sketch Actress / Audrey Meadows113 episodes
1953Man Against CrimeSeason 4 Episode 21: "The Midnight Express"
1955–1956The HoneymoonersAlice Kramden39 episodes
1959The United States Steel HourEpisode: "Holiday on Wheels", Season 7 Episode 7: "Marriage... Handle with Care"
1960–1971The Red Skelton HourClara Appleby
Mrs. Cavendish
The Queen
Admissions Nurse		11 episodes
1960Play of the WeekNell ValentineSeason 1 Episode 34: "The Grand Tour"
1960Alfred Hitchcock PresentsMrs. BixbySeason 6 Episode 1: "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"
1961Wagon TrainNancy PalmerSeason 4 Episode 24: "The Nancy Palmer Story"
1961CheckmateAlthea ToddSeason 1 Episode 24: "One for the Book"
1961General Electric TheaterConnie MarloweSeason 9 Episode 28: "Sis Bowls 'Em Over"
1962The DuPont Show of the WeekConstanceSeason 1 Episode 20: "The Action in New Orleans"
1962That Touch of MinkConnie Emerson
1962Sam BenedictDr. Carrie MortonSeason 1 Episode 9: "Life Is a Lie, Love Is a Cheat"
1963Take Her, She's MineAnne Michaelson
1965Please Don't Eat the DaisiesKitty ClairSeason 1 Episode 15: "The Big Brass Blonde"
1965Invisible DiplomatsKelly SmithShort
1966Jackie Gleason: American Scene MagazineAlice KramdenSeason 4 Episode 17: "The Honeymooners: The Adoption"
1966Clown AlleyWasherwoman ClownTV movie
1966PasswordHerselfGame Show Contestant / Celebrity Guest Star
1967Rosie!Mildred Deever
1972Love, American StyleEve / Harriet / MomSegment: "Love and Dear Old Mom and Dad"
1974The Dean Martin Celebrity RoastMartha WashingtonSeason 9 Episode 22: "Celebrity Roast: George Washington"
1976The Honeymooners Second HoneymoonAlice KramdenTV special
1977The Honeymooners Christmas SpecialAlice Kramden / Mother CratchitTV special
1978The Honeymooners Valentine SpecialAlice KramdenTV special
1978The Love BoatGladys WatkinsSeason 1 Episode 21: "Taking Sides/Going by the Book/A Friendly Little Game"
1978Starsky & HutchHilda ZuckermanSeason 4 Episode 8: "Dandruff"
1978The Second Honeymooners Christmas SpecialAlice KramdenTV special
1980The Love BoatMrs. ElliottSeason 3 Episode 23: "Another Time, Another Place/Doctor Who/Gopher's Engagement"
1981Lily: Sold Out!Polly JoTV special
1982Diff'rent StrokesMrs. MartinsonSeason 4 Episode 15: "The Squatter"
1982–1986Too Close for ComfortIris Martin23 episodes
1984The Love BoatHelen WilliamsSeason 7 Episode 24: "A Rose is Not a Rose/Novelties/Too Rich and Too Thin"
1985HotelAmelia CheltonSeason 3 Episode 4: "Pathways"
1986Murder, She WroteMildred TilleySeason 2 Episode 22: "If the Frame Fits"
1986Life with LucyAudrey (Lucy's sister)Season 1 Episode 8: "Mother of the Bride"
1988CBS Summer PlayhouseAunt LunarSeason 2 Episode 7: "The Johnsons Are Home"
1989NightingalesMrs. MandelSeason 1 Episode 4: "Episode #1.4"
1990Red PepperInaTV movie
1990Later (talk show)HerselfEpisode: "Audrey Meadows"
1990–1991Uncle BuckMaggie Hogoboom16 episodes
1991The SimpsonsBea Simmons (voice)Season 2 Episode 17: "Old Money"
1991Hi Honey, I'm Home!Alice KramdenSeason 1 Episode 3: "Fur Flies"
1992Davis RulesGunny's Ex-WifeSeason 2 Episode 7: "Gunny's Ex"
1993SistersAda BenbowSeason 4 Episode 4: "A Kick in the Caboose"
1994Burke's LawGeorgia StarkSeason 1 Episode 6: "Who Killed Alexander the Great?"
1994Empty NestMargaret RandallSeason 6 Episode 22: "The Devil and Dr. Weston"
1995Dave's WorldRubySeason 2 Episode 23: "The Mommies" & Season 3 Episode 12: "Working Stiffs" (final role)

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Oliver, Myrna (February 5, 1996). "Audrey Meadows, Alice in 'The Honeymooners,' Dies". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  2. ↑ Note: Audrey Cotter was born in New York City in 1922, not in China as has been commonly stated. A 1921 passenger list shows the family entering the United States from China via Vancouver (S.S. Empress of Russia arriving at Vancouver from Shanghai, July 10, 1921). A 1927 passenger list shows Audrey's birthplace as New York (S.S. Olympic, arriving at New York from Southampton, May 3, 1927). The 1930 U.S. census, listing the family in Providence, Rhode Island, also shows Audrey's birthplace as New York City and her age as 8 years old in April 1930, which also confirms 1922 as her year of birth.
  3. 1 2 3 "Actress Jayne Meadows dies at 95; spent early years in Providence". The Providence Journal. April 28, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Comic Actress Audrey Meadows Dies". The Washington Post. February 5, 1996. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ Note: Other biographies erroneously place her birth in 1926 in Wu Chang, China. See "Audrey Meadows, Alice in 'The Honeymooners,' Dies". Los Angeles Times. February 5, 1996. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Audrey Meadows' Biography". Audreymeadows.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Meadows, Audrey (January 1994). Love, Alice: My Life As A Honeymooner. Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-517-59881-8.
  8. ↑ Reed, J.D. "Diamond in the Rough", People Magazine, February 19, 1996; retrieved October 28, 2015.
  9. ↑ Collins, Glenn "For TV's Trixie, the Honeymoon Lives On", The New York Times; retrieved October 28, 2015.
  10. ↑ Myrna Oliver. Los Angeles Times obituary for Audrey Meadows, February 5, 1996.
  11. 1 2 Serling, Robert J (1974). Maverick: The Story of Robert Six and Continental Airlines. Doubleday & Company. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-385-04057-0.
  12. ↑ "Audrey Meadows, "Honeymooners' Co-Star, Dies at 71". The New York Times. February 5, 1996. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  13. ↑ Wilson, Scott (September 16, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ Gallo, Phil (October 10, 2002). "Gleason". Variety. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
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