Often revered for her comic antics, the surprisingly creative Jayne Meadows was also a decorated feminist. She often played creative thinkers like Margaret Sanger and Elizabeth Barrett Browning on PBS’ Meeting of the Minds, which was created by her husband Steve Allen, exposing society to important female historical figures. MS Magazine even paid special tribute to her upon her death (at the age 95) in 2015.

The other surprising side to the eternally glamourous Meadows has to be the aptitude she had for playing characters who embraced the underside of society. Emphasizing her youth and looks, many of her first film roles in the ’40s found her playing spoiled society types. There, she threatened the happiness of such stalwart cases as Katherine Hepburn (in Vincente Minnelli’s moody and gothic Undercurrent) and Anne Baxter (in the more lighthearted The Luck of the Irish). The whimsical Enchantment (1948) was a nice detour in that more seductive course. This feature allowed her to play a stern, uncompromising type against David Niven, the project’s charming lead.

A veteran of 6 Broadway shows before her screen debut in 1946, one of her most highly praised early roles, though, was in the inventive noir Lady in the Lake (from that same year). Here, her dexterity with language was revealed, as she often cut away at her dialogue with a clipped antagonism. Her character here was also more of a deadly construct. While her other roles hinted at the possibility of evil deeds, this project found her committing them with vigor and resolve.

Nicely, her latter-day work contained certain diabolical elements, as well. While her kindhearted madame on an episode of Matt Houston (1983’s The Beverly Woods Social Club) was merely rouged a bit around the jawline, her self-involved cosmetics queen on Murder, She Wrote (1986’s Murder by Appointment Only) allowed her to employ her way with a quip and an arched eyebrow. Catty and demanding, she simply steals the show out from under such experienced performers as Robert Culp and even series star Angela Lansbury, herself.

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