Meade was born in Boston on December 17, 1925; her father sold typewriters and her mother was Caroline Meade, who was "the leading lady with Walter Hampden from 1923 to 1933."
She moved with her family to Glen Rock, New Jersey when she was 10 years old and was a member of the class of 1944 at Ridgewood High School, where she acted in school plays. She later graduated from the Yale School of Drama. Meade went to New York City and was hired as a model in 1948.
Meade came to public attention in 1953 as the public face of the Lincoln division of the Ford Motor Company. She did live commercials on The Ed Sullivan Show for such products as Kodak cameras and Life magazine for years, earning recognition from TV Guide as the "favorite salesgirl" of the program's host. Meade told Life magazine in 1960 that "I tackle commercials as though I were playing the queen in Hamlet".

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