'Mooners Monday: A closer look at Rita Weedemeyer

One of the standout elements of Alice and the Blonde is Audrey Meadows glamming it up in an effort to please Ralph (and, no, I STILl don't know what the deal is with her and that rum candy). Let's take a closer look at the character who inspires Alice's behavior, though: Bert Weedemeyer's new bride Rita.

Rita is played by Freda Rosen (1928-2016), the wife of comedy writer Arnie Rosen. Arnie and partner Coleman Jacoby wrote for Gleason's shows in the 1950s and also for The Phil Silvers Show, but Freda made an indelible mark with her memorable turn as Rita.

Again, I give full credit to the sacred text The Official Honeymooners Treasury, which features great quotes from an interview with Freda Rosen. The episode was produced well after it was written because of the difficulty finding a suitable actress. Rosen claims no one on the show knew she was the writer's wife when she auditioned. She she beat out 19 other actresses for the role of "somebody kind of shallow and dumb, but not anything really heavier than that. Innocent, nonthreatening, just a dumb broad," then ran out and bought cigarette holders to practice her big "light up" scene.

She was not a smoker, so she had to work on using the holder and lighting the cigarette, and then of course the infamous lack of rehearsal on the series combined with the live-to-tape-style process made for a nerve-wracking experience.

 Rosen says that she was surprised when Gleason whacked her on the arm--so much so that she nearly toppled over in the incredibly tight evening dress she wore.

"If you noticed, I always took very tiny steps. When he pushed me, I took those little steps backwards, because otherwise it was right on my fanny."

Freda Rosen provides one of the more memorable one-shot performances in 'Mooners history, and I think fans can agree "she certainly is a treasure." I like the actress' quote that closes the book's chapter on this episode: "It was great fun and scary!"