Audrey Meadows was born in a family of Christian missionaries of Episcopal Church. Her father Francis James Meadows Cotter was a reverend at Episcopal Church while her mother Ida Meadows was a missionary. Audrey had an elder sister named Jayne Meadows who was also an actress. At the age of five, Audrey moved to United States along with her parents. Audrey and her sister Jayne attended all girls boarding school.
Audrey who specializes in coloratura vocal music has first performed on stage at a Carnegie Hall in 1942 at the age of sixteen. She later performed with the Civic Light Opera productions like "Anything Goes", "Good News", "Roberta", "No, Non Nanette" in several cities like Chicago, Detroit and Louisville.
Audrey Meadows began her on-screen debut in 1951 with a regular role on "Bob and Ray" {1951-1953}, a comedic television series. In 1952, Audrey got her biggest break on "The Jackie Gleason Show" (47 episodes: 1952-1957) where she played Alice Kramden, one of the finest comedic roles which she reprised it in "The Honeymooners" (39 episodes: 1955-1956) too replacing Pert Kelton. She also reprised her role of Alice Kramden in a series of made-for-television movies of "The Honeymooners" (39 episodes: 1955-1956). She had other recurring roles too on "The Red Skelton Show" (10 episodes: 1961-1971) and "Too Close for Comfort" (16 episodes: 1982-1986).
Audrey made her motion picture debut with "That Touch of Mink" (1962) and went on to appear in movies like "Take Her, She's Mine" (1963), "Invisible Diplomats" (1965), "Rosie!" (1967) and a couple of made-for-television movies like "Lily: Sold Out" (1981) and Wally and the Valentines (1989}.
Audrey received four Emmy nominations from 1954 to 1957: one in 1956 for "The Honeymooners" (39 episodes: 1955-1956) and three for "The Jackie Gleason Show" (47 episodes: 1952-1957) of which she won one Emmy in 1955.
She also received TV Land Awards nomination in 2004 for "The Honeymooners" (39 episodes: 1955-1956) sharing with co-star Jackie Gleason. Audrey Meadows has received Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 in Comedy by American Comedy Awards, USA and received a Star on the Walk of Fame.
Audrey Meadows was married to Randolph Rouse for a brief period from 1956 to 1958. She later married Robert F Six, the President of Continental Airlines on August 24th 1961 and remained married to him until his death in October 1986. She has been on the Board of Directors of Continental Airlines in a consultative capacity. She was also the director of the First National Bank of Denver serving for eleven years and thus became the first woman to hold such a position and for long.
Audrey Meadows who published her memoirs titled "Love, Alice" has died of cancer at the age of 69 on February 3rd, 1996 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, USA.