Person
Jean Stapleton
Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Jean Stapleton was born Jeanne Murray in Manhattan, New York City, to Marie A. (Stapleton), an opera singer, and Joseph Edward Murray, a billboard advertising salesman. Her patern…
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Jean Stapleton was born Jeanne Murray in Manhattan, New York City, to Marie A. (Stapleton), an opera singer, and Joseph Edward Murray, a billboard advertising salesman. Her paternal grandparents were Irish. She was a cousin of actress Betty Jane Watson. Other relatives in show business were her uncle, Joseph E. Deming, a vaudevillian; and her brother Jack Stapleton, a stage actor. She graduated from Wadleigh High School, NYC, in 1939, and attended Hunter College. She worked as a secretary before becoming an actress. Stapleton made her stage debut at the Greenwood Playhouse, Peaks Island, Maine, in the summer of 1941, and her New York stage debut in "The Corn Is Green" (1948). She appeared on Broadway in the musicals "Damn Yankees" (1955) and "Bells Are Ringing" (1956), and later repeated her roles in the movie versions (Damn Yankees (1958) and Bells Are Ringing (1960)). Her other Broadway roles included the original companies of "Rhinoceros" (1961) and "Funny Girl" (1964). Stapleton also played Abby Brewster in the 1986-87 revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace".
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
-
2016
The Last Laugh
Movie Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2009
- 2009
-
2004
TV Land Top 10
TV show
- 2003
-
2001
Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes
Movie Irene Silverman
-
2001
Pursuit of Happiness
Movie Lorraine
-
2000
Baby
Movie Byrd
-
1998
You've Got Mail
Movie Birdie Conrad
-
1998
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Movie Mrs. Jenkins (voice)
-
1998
Chance of a Lifetime
Movie Mrs. Dunbar
-
1998
Style & Substance
TV show Gloria Utley
-
1996
Michael
Movie Pansy Milbank
-
1996
Everybody Loves Raymond
TV show Aunt Alda
-
1996
E! True Hollywood Story
TV show
-
1996
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
TV show Self
More credits
-
1996
Lily Dale
Movie Mrs. Coons
-
1995
Caroline in the City
TV show Aunt Mary Kosky
-
1994
Touched by an Angel
TV show Emma
-
1994
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
TV show Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
-
1993
Intimate Portrait
TV show Self
-
1993
Bury Me in Niagara
Movie Mildred
-
1993
Grace Under Fire
TV show
-
1993
The Trial
Movie Landlady (uncredited)
-
1992
Beakman's World
TV show Beakman's Mom
-
1992
The Habitation of Dragons
Movie Lenora Tolliver
-
1992
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
TV show Narrator (voice)
-
1991
Fire in the Dark
Movie Henry Dutton
-
1991
Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists
Movie Narrator
- 1991
-
1991
The General Motors Playwrights Theater
TV show Emilie
-
1990
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
Movie Mother Goose
-
1990
Bagdad Cafe
TV show Jasmine Zweibel
-
1988
Murphy Brown
TV show
-
1987
Trying Times
TV show
-
1986
Dead Man's Folly
Movie Ariadne Oliver
-
1985
Cinderella
Movie Fairy Godmother
-
1985
Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff
Movie Self
-
1985
The Ray Bradbury Theater
TV show
-
1984
The Buddy System
Movie Mrs. Price
