Everybody remembers the wonderful Judith Lowry as Mother Dexter from PHYLLIS but don't forget there was another sensational character actress on the show - Jane Rose playing Phyllis' mother-in-law Audrey Dexter. She was a sweet but rather dizzy woman and had lots of good lines as well, not quite Gracie Allenish in their wackiness but close. I was surprised to learn on IMDB that she was only 13 years older than Cloris Leachman.
shareSweet? lol Yeah I suppose so, but I also find her a little bit.... I don't know.... cheeky. ;-)
I loved her dialogue when Phyllis was on the phone with the ski lodge and finding out there was a man in Bess' room at 6:30 in the morning.
Audrey: "Oh" (smile) "Oh" (smile) "Ohhhhhh..." (she finally gets it)
LMAO
I always found the 'Audrey Dexter' character a weak imitation to 'Edith Bunker'...and Jean Stapleton's 'Edith' was a classic.
shareReally? That doesn't remind me of Edith at all. And yet I get what you're trying to say. I can see your point of view, but I really don't agree. I feel like Edith is a dingbat, whereas Audrey just has rose-colored glasses on all the time. It's a little different. Audrey's glazed-over smile makes me want to laugh.
I do have to wonder if Sophia Petrillo's character on The Golden Girls wasn't somewhat indirectly inspired by Mother Dexter though. Mother Dexter owns though. Love Sophia, but... gotta love that crotchety funny old Sally Dexter. And her love for Charles Bronson and tight-panted golf players.
Jane Rose as "Audrey" is my favorite of the bunch.
i knew of her from soaps in the 1960's, so was excited to see her in prime-time doing comedy.
reading Frances Farmer's autobiography i learned that Jane Rose was her New York City roomate.
i think her line delivery was always spot on!
if i have a dozen episodes TIVO'd, and am short on time, i'll fast-forward to her scenes to get my "Audrey Fix"!
I ordered a 16mm print from the state library of David Leans "Summertime" with Katharine Hepburn back in the early 1990's and was taken aback when I saw Jane Rose in a supporting part. I recognized her immediately and she sounded just the same.
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