Jayne Meadows

She quietly lived out her retirement in Encino, California until her death in April 2015.

For the most part, however, she was Allen's creative and dedicated business partner for 46 years until his death in 2000.

They appeared as themselves in the film The Player (1992) they did not appear as themselves in the amusing TV movie Now You See It, Now You Don't (1968) and the all-star TV version of Alice in Wonderland (1985). Jayne's solo work took a deliberate back seat. Usually playing elegant sophisticates, she cameoed in such films as the ribald comedy Norman. . .

In 1991, she received the Women's International Center Living Legacy Award.

Is That You? (1976); the crime thriller Murder by Numbers (1990); as Billy Crystal's mother in the comedies City Slickers (1991) and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994); and made an appearance in what would become her last feature film The Story of Us (1999).

Over a three-decade period, Jayne appeared in a number of TV movies, including James Dean (1976), Sex and the Married Woman (1977), Miss All-American Beauty (1982), A Masterpiece of Murder (1986) and Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon (1989). She also guested on numerous established programs as well -- "Here Comes the Bride," "Here's Lucy," "Adam-12," "Switch," "Hawaii 5-O," "Matt Houston," "Fantasy Island," "Murder, She Wrote," "The Love Boat," "St. Elsewhere," "The Bold and the Beautiful," "The Nanny" and "Diagnosis Murder.

" Steady roles on prime-time TV series would include a recurring part as Nurse Chambers on the medical program Medical Center (1969), as well as regular roles on the sitcoms It's Not Easy (1982) and High Society (1995), the latter for which she earned an Emmy nomination for "Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. "Known for her infectious laugh and joie de vivre, Jayne's confidence grew to include writing stage plays, teleplays, books, and columns.

In 1965, Jayne was attending college to study Chinese language.

They formed an extremely strong personal and professional relationship which would encompass stage ("Love Letters", in which they co-starred on and off for 11 years), film (College Confidential (1960), and especially TV (Meeting of Minds (1977)).

Cecil B. DeMille chose her for the role of Moses' adoptive mother, Bithiah, in his film The Ten Commandments (1956) because he thought she was "very beautiful and very warm." She turned it down because she did not want to commute to Hollywood and be away from her husband (they lived in New York City). The part went to Nina Foch.

Younger sister Audrey Meadows, of The Honeymooners (1955) TV fame, died in 1996.

Divorced from film and TV writer Milton Krims after six years, Jayne met her witty match when she married actor/comedian Steve Allen in 1954.

" At one point, she was a regular member of the celebrity panel on I've Got a Secret (1952).

Jayne supported Steve as a regular/guest on many of his comedy series ventures, including The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1951), The New Steve Allen Show (1961), The Steve Allen Playhouse (1962) and The Steve Allen Comedy Hour (1967).

Not satisfactorily moving up the credits ladder in films as she hoped, Jayne sought work elsewhere in the early 1950's, especially in the new medium of TV. She became one of Hollywood's more glittery personalities on TV and variety programs, and a sparkling guest panelist on such popular TV game shows as "The Name's the Same, "Masquerade Party, "What's My Line," "To Tell the Truth" and "Password.

She occasionally was featured in lighter feature film fare as well, including Song of the Thin Man (1947) and The Luck of the Irish (1948).

This led to a post-WWII, MGM contract in which her icy glare and imposing stance frequently made her the perfect manipulating "other woman" in such "B" heavy drama as Undercurrent (1946), Lady in the Lake (1946), Dark Delusion (1947), Enchantment (1948), The Fat Man (1951) and as Michal in the biblical film David and Bathsheba (1951).

Oakley" (1944), "Many Happy Returns" and "Kiss Them for Me" (1945).

Jayne would develop an early interest in acting, making her Broadway debut with the comedy "Spring Again" (1941), followed by "Another Love Story" (1943), "The Odds on Mrs.

Attended an event at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre marking the 50th anniversary of the untimely passing of actor Tyrone Power. Four of his films were screened: Love Is News (1937), The Mark of Zorro (1940), The Razor's Edge (1946) and Nightmare Alley (1947). Also in attendance were his children, Tyrone Power Jr., Taryn Power and Romina Power, and other actors who have worked with him, including Coleen Gray, Piper Laurie and Terry Moore. [November 2008]

The family returned to the US in the early 1930s wherein Jayne was forced to learn the English language, speaking Chinese and other foreign languages at the time. Settling in Sharon, Connecticut, her father, Rev. Francis James Meadows Cotter, was appointed rector of Christ Church.

One of four children (two older brothers, one younger sister) born to American missionaries, Jayne Meadows (née Jane Cotter) was born September 27, 1919, in China.