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Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton

Birthday: 1923-01-19 | Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York, US

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".

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2000
Baby

as    Byrd

1998
You've Got Mail

as    Birdie Conrad

1998
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World

as    Mrs. Jenkins (voice)

1991
Fire in the Dark

as    Henry Dutton

1986
Dead Man's Folly

as    Ariadne Oliver

1984
The Buddy System

as    Mrs. Price

1982
Eleanor, First Lady of the World

as    Eleanor Roosevelt

1979
Aunt Mary

as    Mary Dobkin

1977
Tail Gunner Joe

as    Mrs. DeCamp

1973
Acts of Love and Other Comedies

as    Gina's Mother

1971
All in the Family

as    Edith Bunker

1971
Cold Turkey

as    Mrs. Wappler

1967
Up the Down Staircase

as    Sadie Finch

1960
Bells Are Ringing

as    Sue

1958
Damn Yankees

as    Sister Miller