Mary Frann of Newhart was inspired by Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners

By: Catchy Comedy Staff Posted: March 18, 2025, 4:24PM

On paper, Mary Frann, who played Joanna Loudon on Newhart, and Audrey Meadows of The Honeymooners were a lot alike.

Both were hilarious, both were married to interesting—sometimes annoying—fictional husbands, both were beautiful, and both helped their shows stand out.

They put up with a lot from their fictional husbands and used humor and sarcasm to cope with the antics that often put them in the middle of chaos.

According to a 1985 interview with The Desert Sun, Frann used Meadows as inspiration for her character in Newhart. Mostly serving as the foil to the comedic actors, Meadows played the straight role to the others, which often led to her character being overlooked.

But she wasn’t overlooked by Frann. She said she thought Meadows was one of the greatest parts of The Honeymooners.

"Starting out in the business, I had some people I particularly liked—Mary Tyler Moore was one, the early Lucille Ball was another," Frann said. "But my big heroine was Audrey Meadows in The Honeymooners."

At the time of this interview, Frann hadn’t had the chance to meet Meadows in person but said she would have loved to one day. In fact, it was on her bucket list.

"The thing about Audrey Meadows in that show is that she held her own with two very strong guys doing funny things around her," Frann said. "Audrey always walked a terribly fine line. She could face up to Ralph Kramden and tell him off, and still, you never doubted the depth of Alice's love for him."

"As furious as she would get with Ralph, she was never mean-spirited or petty," Frann continued. "And that was important—she was strong enough that when Ralph would holler, 'Alice, how’d you like a trip to the moon!' you knew it was all bluster, and he never seemed like a bully. Audrey Meadows made Jackie Gleason funnier."