Audrey Meadows  was an American actress who appeared in the television comedy The Honeymooners during the 1950s as the sardonic housewife Alice Kramden. She was the younger sister of Jayne Meadows, a famous actress from Hollywood.

Audrey Meadows’ Bio, Wiki and Facts

What  was  the  net worth of Audrey Meadows?

At the time of her death in 1996, American actress Audrey Meadows had a $5 million net worth. That is equivalent to about $10 million in current currency. February 1922 saw the birth of Audrey Meadows in New York City, and she died in February 1996.

The role that made Audrey Meadows most famous on television was that of housewife Alice Kramden in the sitcom “The Honeymooners.” She appeared in the sitcoms “Uncle Buck” and “Too Close for Comfort” later in her career. In addition, Meadows starred in a few motion pictures, such as the comedies “Take Her, She’s Mine,” “That Touch of Mink,” and “Rosie!”

Audrey made a tiny fortune, as we will explain in the next part, by making the astute request to get residuals from “The Honeymooners.” Afterwards, she resigned from numerous boards, including First National Bank of Denver. She was married to Robert Six, the CEO of Continental Airlines.

Bridesmaids’ Reminders

Only Audrey Meadows received residual payments from the first 39 episodes of “The Honeymooners.” As Audrey’s manager during negotiations, her brother Edward, a lawyer, shrewdly included a provision to her initial contract entitling her to payment each time the show was rebroadcast. As the show was syndicated, rebroadcast, and released on VHS over the years, Audrey is said to have made millions of dollars. Eight years before her death, in 1988, Audrey responded to the interviewer calling her “very wealthy” in a Washington Post article:

That’s absurd—that’very affluent.'” That is such a pain in the ass! They give the absurd impression that you are extremely wealthy. Many believed Bob to be the owner of Continental Airlines. He was just the CEO and president.”

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Early years and childhood

On February 8, 1922, Audrey Cotter was born in New York City and later became Audrey Meadows. Her parents, Episcopal missionaries Ida and Rev. Francis, had their first three children in China, where they carried out their missionary work. She was the youngest of their four children. She had two brothers and the actress Jayne Meadows as a sister. Audrey attended the Massachusetts-based Barrington School for Girls for her high school education.

Professional Career in Television of Audrey Meadows :

Following her Broadway musical debut in “Top Banana,” Meadows secured her first significant role on television when she joined the comic team of Bob and Ray for their fifteen-minute program, “Bob & Ray.” After just one season, she departed the show to appear on “The Jackie Gleason Show” in 1952.

Meadows made her television debut in the well-liked “Honeymooners” sketches, taking over for the blacklisted actress Joyce Randolph as Alice Kramden, the Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden’s wife in Gleason’s story. When “The Honeymooners” was adapted into a half-hour sitcom and ran from 1955 to 1956, Meadows kept her role as Alice. Later, in the 1970s, she would return to the character in a number of “Honeymooners” specials. Meadows had numerous Emmy Award nominations for her depiction of Alice, and she was awarded one for “The Jackie Gleason Show.”

Meadows kept making television appearances long after “The Honeymooners” concluded. She frequently appeared on “The Red Skelton Hour” in the 1960s, and she also had guest appearances on programs including “Wagon Train,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” and “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.” In subsequent years, Meadows appeared in episodes of television shows such as “Love, American Style,” “The Love Boat,” and “Starsky & Hutch.”

Her next major appearance came in the sitcom “Too Close for Comfort,” where she played Ted Knight’s mother-in-law from 1982 until 1986. In 1990 and 1991, Meadows played a major part in the brief sitcom “Uncle Buck.” Her television appearances during the next few years included “Davis Rules,” “Sisters,” “Burke’s Law,” and “Empty Nest.” Meadows played her last role in two “Dave’s World” comedic episodes in 1995.

Career in Film:

In the 1962 romantic comedy “That Touch of Mink,” starring Cary Grant and Doris Day, Meadows made her big screen debut with a credit. The next year, she starred in the Broadway play-adapted comedy “Take Her, She’s Mine,” starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee. Later in the decade, in the play-based comedy “Rosie!,” Meadows and Dee got back together.

Careers in Banking and Marketing

Meadows has a distinguished career in marketing and banking in addition to performing. From 1961 until 1981, Meadows served as a director of Continental Airlines’ advisory board. In that capacity, she assisted with marketing campaigns and provided design support for uniforms and airplane interiors.

Relationship status with Randolph Rouse

The rich real estate agent Randolph Rouse was married to Meadows in 1956. Two years later, they were divorced. In 1961, Meadows married Robert Six, the CEO of Continental Airlines, her second husband. They were together until 1986, when Six passed away.

Meadows, a long-time smoker, was given a lung cancer diagnosis in 1995.  Meadows is interred in Culver City’s Holy Cross Cemetery next to her second husband.