Jayne Meadows

Jayne Meadows (b. September 27, 1920) is an American movie and stage actress and author. She was born Jayne Cotter in Wu-ch'ang (now Wuchang), China, to Episcopal missionary parents, the Rev. James Cotter, and his wife, Ida.

The family returned to their home in Connecticut, United States, not far from the family home of William F. Buckley, Sr. and his huge family (10 children). The Buckleys were fervent Roman Catholics, and the Cotters obviously were Protestants, and some of the Buckley girls engaged in acts of misconduct and vandalism directed towards the Cotters, such as making prank calls, sending the Rev. Cotter to imaginary deathbeds, and breaking windows.

Meadows' most famous movies include: Song of the Thin Man (with William Powell and Myrna Loy), David and Bathsheba (with Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward and Raymond Massey), Lady in the Lake (with Robert Montgomery and Audrey Totter), and City Slickers (as the voice of Billy Crystal's oversolicitous mother).

She was the older sister of Audrey Meadows, whom she survives, as well as having had 2 brothers who are also deceased.

Meadows was a regular panelist on the original version of I've Got a Secret and an occasional panelist on What's My Line?, alongside husband Allen. During the early days of Las Vegas's burgeoning live entertainment scene, the Allens worked together occasionally as an act.

She was married to Steve Allen from 1954 until his death in 2000, by whom she had one son, and several step-children.

Filmography

• Undercurrent (1946)
• Dark Delusion (1947)
• Lady in the Lake (1947)
• Song of the Thin Man (1947)
• The Luck of the Irish (1948)
• Enchantment (1948)
• The Fat Man (1951)
• David and Bathsheba (1951)
• It Happened to Jane (1959) (Cameo)
• College Confidential (1960)
• Norman... Is That You? (1976)
• Da Capo (1985)
• Murder by Numbers (1990)
• City Slickers (1991)
• The Player (1992) (Cameo)
• City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
• Casino (1995) (Cameo)
• The Story of Us (1999)

References

• Official web site