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Jayne Meadows

Though she preferred to be called Mrs. Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows enjoyed a rich, varied and celebrated career under her own name, quite apart from that of her television pioneer husband and co-star. Born in China at the start of the Chinese Civil War, Meadows and her family escaped to America where she followed her acting dreams to Hollywood. A contract player for MGM after World War II, Meadows rose quickly from supporting such stars as Katharine Hepburn, William Powell and Myrna Loy to playing love scenes with the A-list likes of Tyrone Power in "Luck of the Irish" (1948) and David Niven in "Enchantment" (1948). In New York in the Fifties, Meadows participated in the industry innovations of live television drama and quiz shows, while also appearing on husband Steve Allen's various comedy revues and acting in both feature films and on episodic television. A three-time Emmy award nominee, recipient of the 1988 America Book Award and winner of a 1991 Living Legend Award from the Women's International Center, the an actress-comedienne-playwright-recording artist combined a starlet's beauty with the sharp mind of an academic, weathering a 60-year career to emerge as one of the last surviving links to the golden ages of both Hollywood and television. Jayne Meadows died at her home in Encino, California, on April 26, 2015, at the age of 95.