Audrey Meadows (February 8, 1922 – February 3, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners.
Born as Audrey Cotter in New York City in 1922, she was the youngest of four siblings. Her parents, the Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter and his wife, the former Ida Miller Taylor, had been Episcopal missionaries in Wu-ch'ang, China, where her three elder siblings were born. The family returned to live in New York in 1921. Her older sister was actress Jayne Meadows. She attended high school at the Barrington School for Girls in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
After high school, she sang in the Broadway musical Top Banana before becoming a regular on television in The Bob and Ray Show. She was then hired to play Alice on The Jackie Gleason Show after the actress who originated the role, Pert Kelton, was forced to leave the show due to blacklisting, although the official reason given was that Kelton was suffering from a health problem. When The Honeymooners became a half-hour situation comedy on CBS, Meadows continued in the role. She then returned to play Alice after a long hiatus, when Gleason produced occasional Honeymooners specials in the 1970s. Meadows had auditioned for Gleason and was initially turned down for being too chic and pretty to play Alice. Meadows submitted a far different photo of herself, looking much plainer, the next day and won the role of Alice.
I know a time called then
When we were only men
And to be alive
Just meant you hadn't died
Time can't erase
Heartbeats
Out of phase
And your empty eyes
Don't seem to want to realise
Oh! 2025
When we were still alive
Oh! 2025
When we were only simple men
And in the automat
!!! [sound effect]
And that was that
We didn't mess with time
Knock things out of line
Oh! 2025
When we were still alive
Oh! 2025
When we were only simple men
And in the dreamless night
I pulse
Out of sight
Am I the only man
No part of any plan
Before the age of clean
Before the power screen
Before the maser beam
Before my world was only me
Oh we were young and free
You can't alter me
So now you keep me here
Is this law
Or is it fear
Oh! 2025
When we were still alive
Oh! 2025
When we were only simple men