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Tag: The Honeymooners

  • Jayne Meadows, Wife of Steve Allen, Dies at 95

    Jayne Meadows, wife of the late Steve Allen, died on Sunday at her home in Encino, California at the age of 95. An actress and TV personality, Meadows was also known for her role as a panelist on the game show, ‘I’ve Got A Secret.’

    Meadows and Steve Allen were known for their comedic banter. She was often referred to as ‘chatty.’

    During a joint interview back in 1981, a reporter asked if Jayne Meadows had felt a recent minor earthquake in Los Angeles. She replied that her husband had but she had not.

    “She was talking at the time,” Steve Allen deadpanned.

    Jayne Meadows had a long-running role on the 1970s drama Medical Center as a nurse, and she played the part of Billy Crystal’s mother in the film City Slickers.

    Jayne wasn’t the only actress in her family either. Sister Audrey Meadows played the role of Alice Kramden alongside Jackie Gleason on The Honeymooners.

    Jayne Meadows was born in China in 1919 to missionary parents. The family moved back to the United States when she was eight years old, and she was raised in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

    The actress is survived by her son, Bill Allen, as well as by three grandchildren.

  • Sheila MacRae of ‘The Honeymooners’ Dies at 92

    Actress and singer Sheila MacRae of the 1960s recreated version, The Honeymooners, died Thursday at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, N.J. She was 92 years old.

    According to the New York Times, the actress was a featured performer in the sketches, which aired on CBS’ The Jackie Gleason Show.

    MacRae was best known for her staring role as Alice Kramden, the wife of Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, which was portrayed by Gleason.

    Actress Audrey Meadows was previously Gleason’s co-star in the 1950s version of the show, but MacRae replaced her as the leading lady from 1966 to 1970.

    MacRae was originally born in London, but she and her family immigrated to New York during World War II.

    As a singer, dancer, and actress, MacRae’s entertainment career evolved from Broadway plays to television acting.

    She starred in a number of movies and TV shows like I Love Lucy and General Hospital.

    However, the majority of her life involves her 26-year marriage to singer and actor Gordon MacRae, who was best known for his staring roles in the Oklahoma! and Carousel musicals.

    They became quite the duo as far as acting and their little ones followed:

    • The 1961 cast of Annie Get Your Gun featured their four children, Meredith, Heather, William, and Robert.
    • In 1964, the couple appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show together, the same night the Beatles performed.
    • Her 1965 portrayal of Miss Adelaide in the Broadway play Guys and Dolls also comprised of her husband being there with her on stage.

    A video of Gordon and his daughter singing together:

    Although MacRae was hesitant to divorce Gordon, they eventually separated in 1965 and the divorce became final in 1967. Within the same year she re-married to Ronald Wayne, the producer of Gleason’s show.

    Yet another marriage ended in divorce, but it didn’t stop MacRae from moving forward in her acting career.

    Her 1971 comedy, The Sheila MacRae Show, featured both her daughters Meredith and Heather.

    MacRae returned back to Broadway soon there after and landed character roles in Absurd Person Singular and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

    Her daughter Meredith and son Robert preceded her in death. She has left behind her remaining two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

    “She had a great life, my mom, she really did,” her daughter Heather told People.  “She was quite a broad.”

    A YouTube video in memory of MacRae:

    Image via YouTube

  • Jane Kean: Jackie Gleason Co-Star Dies

    Jane Kean, best known for her role on the TV revival of The Honeymooners, died on Tuesday at the age of 90. Starring alongside Jackie Gleason in the hit TV show, Kean first worked with Gleason back in the 1940s. The two often appeared together on the vaudeville circuit.

    Kean played the role of Ed Norton’s (played by Art Carney) wife Trixie on The Honeymooners, and will long be known for her big singing voice. She loved her work and often spoke in later years about the privilege of performing on such a show and working with someone like Gleason. Her chance to do so came in the form of a very unexpected phone call.

    “One day she picked up the phone and he said, ‘Are you doing anything right now?’ and she said ‘No’ and he said ‘Come on down and be Trixie,’” Kean’s niece, Dierdre Wolpert said of Gleason. “Two weeks later she was on the plane to Florida.”

    The rest–as they say–is history. Prior to Jane Kean’s 5-year run on The Honeymooners, she appeared in a few films produced by MGM. In the early 1950s she formed a comedy duo with her sister. They often played the same clubs as Milton Berle. After her time on The Honeymooners, Kean did a slew of guest appearances, performed in Las Vegas and did voice work. Her publisher, Alan Eichler, said she recently provided the voice for a children’s film called Abner the Pig.

    Just last year, Jane Kean did her own one-woman show, during which she reflected on her life’s work. She revived it just a few months ago at Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. It certainly doesn’t sound like she was a ‘rocking chair’ kind of 90-year-old.

    “This was a really kicking 90-year-old. The number of friends that she had, the people who loved her … she had a wonderful life and a wonderful career,” her niece says. “She was a glamour girl, but she also had a lot of substance.”

    And what better way to make it to 90 years old? Without that substance, life becomes old, sad and just plain boring. It certainly sounds like Jane Kean’s was anything but that.

    It’s clear from recent Twitter posts that Kean was still a beloved performer in many people’s eyes.

    Image via Wikipedia