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  On the Honeymooners, Ralph's wife was played by Audrey Meadows, the 
sister of Jayne Meadows, who was the wife of Steve Allen, who, among 
other things, was the first host of the Tonight Show.
When I was still doing a radio show, I had the rare opportunity to 
interview Jayne on two different occasions. She was a skin cancer 
survivor, with her red hair and fair Irish skin, and she would talk 
about the dangers of
too much sun and prevention. Steve was still alive then, but was never 
present during the interviews, which were telephonic. When we were on 
the air, she was the outgoing, showy, talkative star we all know. And 
when we were on a commercial break, she would talk to me as though I 
were her closest confidante. Apparently, around that time, she and 
Audrey were estranged from one another and not speaking. Audrey had 
contracted lung cancer (she was a heavy smoker) and the first Jayne knew 
about it was during a television filming, and Audrey had been recently 
hospitalized. Jayne went immediately to see her, but she had already 
slipped into a coma, and was never able to speak to her. I think it was 
in the mid-90's or so. Very sad. When we would come back on the air, she 
was her normal talkative self, but she wouldn't talk about the situation 
with Audrey at that time. She was still obviously very much in love with 
Steve, who was a genius in his own right. Very nice lady.

 What struck me about that experience is that we all, no matter how 
much fame and fortune, seem to have our share of heartache, genius, 
cancer, family unrest, and public and private personalities.   


 Incidentally, she said Jackie Gleason could be a bit of an ogre and 
detested rehearsing. Much of the Honeymooners was roughly scripted and 
had much ad libbing, which probably added to its appeal.
 
 If someone could please tell me what any of this has to do with 
horses, I'd appreciate knowing.    Bruce Weary

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