This Silver Age starlet native is the
separated-at-birth sister from another mother of voice-over legend June "Rocky
the Flying Squirrel" Foray. Meadows is a big fan of Foray but stated that their
paths never crossed.
When asked if she had ever considered voice-over work, this
star of stage, television, and film with 73 IMDb credits replied "voice-over
work did interest me; it is tough to break into." The best reply to this is that
Matt Groening can eat my shorts regarding not casting this woman who was born
to voice passive-aggressive church lady Helen Lovejoy.
The support that Meadows
is providing the Detective release further proves the team spirit that helped
her get rare multiple roles on classic series such as "Wagon Train" and "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents." She literally goes above-and-beyond by supplementing her
audio commentary with a witty video introduction to the film. Meadows seamlessly
transitions between appearing as herself and her "Arous" character Sally in a
manner that will make you believe that a brain can fly.
"Arous": The True Hollywood Story
The cult status of "Arous" required asking Meadows about the extent of that
fandom. She responded that "that role has followed me around like a little puppy
all of my career." She added that she gets a great deal of fan mail.
Much of
this correspondence is available on her
website, which includes a wide selection
of merchandise that Meadows will inscribe. Your not-so-humble reviewer is not
just a fan, he is a paying customer.
The aforementioned post on the "Arous"
release refers to the quality of the film including Meadows and co-star/love
interest John Agar making you believe that they believe that a best brain is
threatening mankind. Part of this challenge is having to film several scenes
without actually seeing the animated image of the villain.
Citing her extensive
theater background, which includes scads o Shakesepearean roles, Meadows
commented that she "used a lot of imagination" when talking to and battling with
empty space. She added that she was "living the moment" and that
"when you are on the set, there are a lot of technical things that the audience
never sees."
All of this makes it very apt that "Arous" was the first film of 21
year-old Meadows, which is the stage name of our living legend, fresh off
starring in a stage production of "Romeo and Juliet." The portrayals by Meadows
of the world's most famous star-crossed lover and the feisty and brave Sally
prove that a strong independent woman by any other names is just as sweet. One
spoiler is that Sally does the complete opposite of denying her father.
On a
more general level, Meadows stated that she fully commits to every role. A very
bizarre "Arous" plot point involving a dog required asking animal-lover Meadows
about that aspect of the film. She replied that "I thought that was wonderful; I
love animals and can accept that [her canine co-star had a pivotal role in
saving his best friends]." Her praise for that good boy included that "he was
beautifully trained; we got along wonderfully."
The larger truth this time is
that Meadows showed that W.C. Fields was wrong in saying to never work with
animals.
Its A Living
The bigger picture this time was discussing the life of a working actress.
Meadows aptly summarized the negative aspects of her profession by stating
that it involves "a lot of rejection and conflict." She added that her
commitment to a project often precluded auditioning for other (sometimes more
prominent) roles.
Meadows further observed that "Hollywood is a small town" and that
the news "spreads like wildfire" if an actor does not show up, arrives late, or
has been drinking. The clear message was that a bird-in-the-hand is worth more
than a flock in the bush.
Meadows was living with her family in Sacramento when
the opportunity to move into the Hollywood Studio Club residential hotel for
women facilitated her transition to television and film work. This safe space
also was the home of Marilyn Monroe and Rita Moreno early in their careers.
The
only misconduct of Meadows during that period was sneaking in a bottle of
whiskey to cure a cold. She shared that the whiskey put her to sleep but did not
help her illness.
An amusing (but not surprising) insight was that Meadows
noted that she has worked with (unnamed) well-known female character actresses
who would only be on set when filming. Meadows added that these divas would
refuse to even acknowledge their co-stars.
Conversely, Meadows lit up when
discussing appearing in the "Golden Girls" spinoff "The Golden
Palace." Meadows described her role as a "nasty southern girl" and stated that
she "so enjoyed watching those people work together" in reference to the three
female stars. The southern accent that Meadows adopted in discussing her
character makes one wish that she at least had been cast in a recurring role as
a relative of Blanche in "Girls."
A personal highlight was discussing the few
episodes of the awesomely off-beat NBC daytime soapcom "Santa Barbara" in which
Meadows played a psychiatric ward nurse. She recalled that that was her first
role after leaving Hollywood to do live theater. That transition in her career
was the reason that the numerous westerns in which Meadows appeared did not
include "Gunsmoke" or "Bonanza."
Asking Meadows about any high-profile roles for
which she was a strong contender but did not get showed how casting can be very
unpredictable. Meadows shared that her audition for "The Ten Commandments"
caught the eye of Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille approached Meadows and gave her "a
great deal of compliments." In the end, Debra Paget edged out Meadows for the
role of Lilia in that epic of Biblical proportions.
Our conversation also showed
that Meadows had a wonderful time making movies and television episodes and put
her heart-and-soul into that work but that theater was her true love.
You Oughhtta Write a Book
Our much too short hour-long talk concluded with my asking Meadows why she has
never written an auto-biography. Replying "I am probably in the minority of the
actresses who have not written a biography" shows the wit and wisdom that
screams for such a tome. The bigger picture this time is the importance of
documenting the experiences of performers from the era in which they were
actors, rather then stars, requires such works before it is too late. The bottom
line regarding all this is that Meadows goes beyond being a celebrity with whom
you would want to sit down for coffee. She would bake you cookies and regale you
with tales of being a being a working actress who proves that good guys
sometimes finish first. I'm ready for my snickerdoodles, Ms. Meadows.
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