Screenland Plus TV-Land (Jul 1955-May 1957)

AUDREY MEADOWS continued bed. When Gleason saw them he thought she was perfect for the part. But it took some time to convince him it was the same girl. Audrey claims she owes whatever success she has to her sister Jayne, since Audrey had never even wanted to be an actress. "I learned to speak Chinese before I could speak English," she says. "And I always wanted to be a spy. But Jayne wanted to act. Thank God she got her way." The reason Audrey spoke' Chinese first is because she was born in Wu Chang, China, where everybody speaks it. Her father, the Reverend Francis Cotter, was an American missionary there. Audrey, her sister and two older brothers (now successful lawyers) were brought up by an amah until Audrey was five. Then they came to Providence, Rhode Island. The little girls were quite a curiosity. A lady who worked for the Providence Journal under the byline of Mother Goose thought they'd make charming copy. The girls were very cooperative. They told Mother Goose that the Chinese whacked at their fingers with carving knives every time they reached for cookies. "My poor dears," said the old lady. "Do you have many scars?" "No," they said. "We were too quick for them." From Providence, the family moved to Sharon, Connecticut, where Audrey's parents still live. One summer, a friend of the Cotters gave a lawn party for members of a summer stock company. Jayne persuaded her brother to take her there. She smeared on dark pancake make-up, black-red lipstick and wore the longest earrings she could find all because she'd heard that the part of an Italian signora was still to be cast. Arriving at the party she arranged herself languidly on some lawn furniture and waited to be discovered. She was, by a very amused director. Despite the disappointing fact that almost every other girl in Sharon found her way into the company, Jayne's career had started. Audrey, who was tall and thin, distinguished herself in school by singing the boys' parts in various musicals. Jayne urged her to take lessons. When she was AUDREY loves working with Jackie and she's a perfect foil for him on the "Honeymooners." 64 16, Audrey's singing teacher hired Car-. ^ negie Hall and she made her debut therei^ as a coloratura soprano. Just as she was h getting ready for college Jayne said t "Come to New York instead. We'll ge: jobs on the stage." "What wild times they were," Audre> recalls. "Dad used to drive us in foi auditions and Jayne and I would rehearse in hotel powder rooms." Jayne, from the superiority of her lSj years, would dress her 16-year-old sistei to fit the role being cast, Once, they heard that the Theatre Guild was looking for, someone to play a waif. Audrey, properh attired, was plunked onto a seat in then, waiting room at the Guild office. Aftei a long while, one of the female executives walked over. "Little girl," she said to Audrey, "you ' look very peaked. Why don't you gc across the street and get a bowl of soup?' Jayne always went with her on auditions. Other hopefuls dragged along serious-minded accompanists. Audrey never even considered that idea. There was the occasion she stood Jayne on the stage left her to run to the piano and hit a note (for pitch) and hummed it all the way back to Jayne's side. Then they both broke into a shattering rendition of "Farewell, Wesleyan-a," one of their brother's college songs. "If they'd had jobs for two idiots,' they later recalled, "we'd have got them.' Somehow Audrey did' manage to land singing jobs with the Gordon String Quartet, in nightclubs and finally on Broadway where she was the lead in "Top Banana" for 16 weeks. During the second World War, she toured the South Pacific with a USC troupe. "I was reported dead on three different occasions. It got so frightening I was afraid to look in a mirror.' Still very much alive, but weakened bj yellow fever, Audrey went to Hollywood to recuperate and visit Jayne who had . made a name for herself there. Audrey never got far in films. "I wasfed up with movie executives," she says "They always sat with their backs to me during an interview." Once she got tired of waiting in ar outer office and popped a large piece oi hard candy into her mouth. Just then a secretary chose to usher her into the innei sanctum. Audrey didn't bother to remove the jawbreaker. The executive; finally swivelled in his chair to get a loot at her and his eyes popped. "Oh," said Audrey. "If you want tc photograph me on this side, I'll just shifi the candy to the other side." She felt she belonged in New York anc came back. When Jayne joined her the} rented a four-room apartment in the Eas> Fifties and continued to help each other "Jayne's forte was drama and min< comedy," Audrey says. "We attendee each other's rehearsals whenever possible and offered advice or criticism. Jayne i: not only my sister, she's my best friend.' m mil li fe