
Jean Stapleton
Biography
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".
Acting (40 movies)

Michael
1996

Pursuit of Happiness
2001

Dead Man's Folly
1986

You've Got Mail
1998

Damn Yankees
1958

Cold Turkey
1971

Up the Down Staircase
1967

Bells Are Ringing
1960

The Buddy System
1984

Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff
1985

Something Wild
1961

The Television Revolution Begins: "All in the Family" Is On the Air
2009

Those Were the Days: The Birth of "All in the Family"
2009

Baby
2000

Chance of a Lifetime
1998

Angel Dusted
1981

Lily Dale
1996

The Last Laugh
2016

Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists
1991

Klute
1971

Aunt Mary
1979

Eleanor, First Lady of the World
1982

Tail Gunner Joe
1977

You Can't Take it With You
1979

Fire in the Dark
1991

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
1998

A Matter of Sex
1984

Acts of Love and Other Comedies
1973

Bury Me in Niagara
1993

Jack and the Beanstalk
1983

Cinderella
1985

Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes
2001

Pursuit of Happiness
2001

The Trial
1993

Isabel's Choice
1981

Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
1990

The Habitation of Dragons
1992

The Muppets Go Hollywood
1979

All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special
1991

Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
1985
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