Alice of Honeymooners passes
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from February 1996.
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Audrey Meadows, the veteran actress who made her mark in the classic 1950s series as the sparring partner to Jackie Gleason's blustery Ralph Kramden, has died of lung cancer. She was 71.
"I loved that character of Alice," she said in a 1994 interview, "because she was strong and she was tender. She was everything that I think is fine in a woman."
"Why did she stay with Ralph? Because she understood him - and he obviously was thin when she married him."
Meadows died at 8:50 p.m. Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She had kept her illness a secret, even from her sister Jayne Meadows, until newspapers learned of her hospitalisation early this year.
"My fervent prayers are with my dear sister, Audrey, who has for months fought a brave and private battle with lung cancer," Jayne Meadows, who is married to entertainer Steve Allen, said in a prepared statement.
Although Audrey Meadows played other roles on television and Broadway, it was the role of Alice on "The Honeymooners" that made her a pop culture icon.
"To the moon, Alice!" was Ralph Kramden's oft-heard cry, an unfulfilled threat to deliver a shot - "Pow!" - to the kisser. Alice was unfazed, and many shows ended with a kiss and Ralph's admission, "Baby, you're the greatest." Meadows provided the perfect counterbalance to Gleason's bus driver character and Art Carney's goofy antics as neighbor Ed Norton.
When Ralph unveiled yet another of his harebrained schemes, Alice would stand quietly with raised eyebrows and a sceptical gaze.
Gleason publicly praised Meadows' ability to keep things rolling on the set. Once when Ralph burned himself and screamed, "Isn't there any lard around here?" Meadows took a long look at Gleason and said, "About 300 pounds of it."
Meadows' birthplace is listed as Wu Chang, China, in Who's Who in America and her personal biography material. However, family members said she was born in New York, publicist Miriam Levin said Sunday.
Audrey Meadows went on to a Carnegie Hall debut as a coloratura soprano, performed light opera and won a 1951 Broadway role in "Top Banana" with Phil Silvers. She appeared as a singer and sketch comedian on TV shows, taking over the role of Alice in the "Honeymooners" sketches on CBS' "The Jackie Gleason Show" in 1952. She won an Emmy for the role in 1955.
Meadows stayed with Gleason until 1957, then played occasional guest roles on TV dramas and appeared on panel shows throughout the 1950s and '60s. She virtually retired from acting after her marriage to Continental Airlines chairman Robert Six, turning her attention to business activities and her family.
