Jean Stapleton
Birthday: Born in 1923-01-19 in Manhattan, New York, US
Deathday: 2013-05-31
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".
TV Credits
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Character: Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show was an American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002. Topics often discussed on the show include Broadway, children, extended families and charitable works, people and organizations. The show was based out of Studio 8G at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City, NY, USA and was produced and syndicated by KidRo Productions, Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Te...
My Three Sons
Character:
A widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas raises three sons with the help of his father-in-law, and later the boys' great-uncle. An adopted son, a stepdaughter, wives, and another generation of sons join the loving family in later seasons....
The Love Boat
Character:
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins....
Caroline in the City
Character: Aunt Mary Kosky
Caroline in the City is an American situation comedy that ran on the NBC television network. It stars Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy, who lives in Manhattan in New York City. The series premiered on September 21, 1995 in the "Must See TV" Thursday night block after Seinfeld. The show ran for 97 episodes over four seasons, before it was cancelled; its final episode was broadcast on April 26, 1999....
Touched by an Angel
Character: Emma
Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives....
Everybody Loves Raymond
Character: Aunt Alda
Ray Barone is a successful sportswriter living on Long Island with his wife Debra, daughter Ally, and twin sons, Geoffrey and Michael. That's the good news. The bad news? Ray's meddling parents, Frank and Marie, live directly across the street and embrace the motto "Su casa es mi casa," infiltrating their son's home to an extent unparalleled in television history....
All in the Family
Character: Edith Bunker
Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day....
Route 66
Character:
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America in a Chevrolet Corvette sports car. The show ran weekly on Fridays on CBS from October 7, 1960 to March 20, 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for the first two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod was shown traveling on his own. Tod met Lincoln Case, played by Glenn Corbett, late in the third season, and traveled with h...
E! True Hollywood Story
Character:
E! True Hollywood Story is an American documentary series on E! that deals with famous Hollywood celebrities, movies, TV shows and also well-known public figures. Among the topics covered on the program include salacious re-tellings of Hollywood secrets, show-biz scandals, celebrity murders and mysteries, porn-star biographies, and "where-are-they-now?" investigations of former child stars. It frequently features in-depth interviews, actual courtroom footage, and dramatic reenactments. When aire...
Murphy Brown
Character:
Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic who returns to the fictional newsmagazine FYI for the first time following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic residential treatment center. Over 40 and single, she is sharp tongued and hard as nails. In her profession, she is considered one of the boys, having shattered many glass ceilings encountered during her career. Dominating the FYI news magazine, she is portrayed as one of America's hardest-hitting (though not the warmest or more sympat...
Naked City
Character: Marilyn Konish
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”....
Grace Under Fire
Character:
Grace Kelly is a tough woman with kids to raise. A recently divorced recovering alcoholic, Grace struggles with the pressures of being a single mother supporting three children. Grace doesn't always handle situations with, well, grace, but she does get results....
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Character:
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show stars Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance, after encountering one another in a train station....
Archie Bunker's Place
Character:
Archie Bunker's Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a spin-off and continuation of All in the Family. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough audience to last for four seasons, until its cancellation in 1983. In its first season, the show performed so well that it knocked Mork & Mindy out of its new Sunday night time slot....
Faerie Tale Theatre
Character: The Giantess
A live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales....
Beakman's World
Character: Beakman's Mom
Beakman's World is an educational children's television show. The program is based on the Universal Press Syndicate syndicated comic strip You Can with Beakman and Jax created by Jok Church. The series premiered September 18, 1992 on The Learning Channel cable network and in national syndication. On September 18, 1993 it moved from national syndication to CBS Saturday morning children’s lineup. At the peak of its popularity, it was seen in nearly 90 countries around the world. The series was ca...
The Electric Company
Character:
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. After it ceased production that year, the program continued in reruns from 1977 to 1985, the result of a decision made in 1975 to produce two final seasons for perpetual use. CTW produced the show at Teletape Studios Second Stage in M...
The Muppet Show
Character: Self - Special Guest Star
Go behind the curtains as Kermit the Frog and his muppet friends struggle to put on a weekly variety show....
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Mary Dobkin
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, ...
The Eleventh Hour
Character:
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964....
Intimate Portrait
Character: Self
Intimate Portrait is a biographical television series on the Lifetime Television cable network focusing on different celebrities, which includes interviews with each subject. Among the people profiled were Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, Carly Simon, Jackie Kennedy, Katharine Hepburn, Carol Burnett, Tanya Tucker, and Marla Maples....
Dennis the Menace
Character:
This 1959-1963 television situation comedy series follows the lives of the Mitchell family, Henry, Alice, and their only child Dennis, an energetic, trouble-prone, mischievous, but well-meaning boy, who often tangles with his peace-and-quiet-loving neighbor George Wilson, a retired salesman, or, later, with George's brother John, a writer. Dennis is basically a good, well-intentioned boy who always tries to help people, but who winds up making situations worse – often at Mr. Wilson's expense....
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Character: Self
An American sketch comedy television program hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin....
The Defenders
Character: Mrs. Larsen
The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing....
The Patty Duke Show
Character:
The Patty Duke Show is an American sitcom which ran on ABC from September 18, 1963 to April 27, 1966, with reruns airing through August 31, 1966. The show was created as a vehicle for rising star Patty Duke. A total of 104 episodes were produced, most written by Sidney Sheldon....
The Philco Television Playhouse
Character: Bus Girl
The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956....
Robert Montgomery Presents
Character:
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theater, ....The Johnson's Wax Program, and so on....
Dr. Kildare
Character: Nurse Whitney
The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine....
Bagdad Cafe
Character:
Bagdad Cafe is an American television sitcom starring Whoopi Goldberg and Jean Stapleton. The series premiered March 30, 1990 on CBS. The show is based on the 1987 Percy Adlon film Bagdad Cafe....
Cher
Character: Self
Emmy Award nominated American variety show....
The Ray Bradbury Theater
Character:
A Canadian-produced fantastic anthology series scripted by famed science-fiction author Ray Bradbury. Many of the teleplays were based upon Bradbury's novels and short stories....
Saturday Night Live
Character: Self - Cameo (uncredited)
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest....
Naked City
Character: Mrs. Trellis
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”....
The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia....
Faerie Tale Theatre
Character: The Fairy Godmother
A live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales....
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
Character: Narrator (Voice)
Actress Shelley Duvall presents charming animated versions of some of the most beloved children's stories in this superb Emmy-nominated collection featuring 26 tales narrated by famous actors and musicians. The stories by Mercer Mayer, Virginia Lee Burton, Marilyn Sadler and others are voiced by Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Candice Bergen, Ringo Starr, Michael J. Fox, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Kathy Bates and many more....
The Carol Burnett Show
Character: Self - Guest / Various Characters
The Carol Burnett Show is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33. The series won 25 prime time Emmy Awards, was ranked No. 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002 and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All Time."...
Tony Awards
Character: Self - Presenter
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre....
Tony Awards
Character: Self - Host
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre....
The Dick Cavett Show
Character: Self - Guest
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks....
The Nurses
Character: Mrs. Montgomery
The Nurses is a serialized primetime medical drama which aired on CBS from September 27, 1962 to May 11, 1965. It was originally called The Nurses when it premiered in 1962; for the second season, the title was expanded to The Doctors and the Nurses and it ran until 1965, when it was transformed into a half-hour daytime soap opera. The soap opera, also called The Nurses, ran on ABC from 1965 to 1967....
Style & Substance
Character: Gloria Utley
Style & Substance was a television situation comedy that premiered on CBS July 22, 1998. The show starred Jean Smart as Chelsea Stevens, a Martha Stewart-like star of a how-to home show, and Nancy McKeon as her producer, Jane Sokol, a small-town girl new to New York City. Chelsea Stevens was an expert cook, decorator, and party planner who knew much more about thread-count than she did relationships. She was well-meaning at times, but her narcissism usually got in the way of actually understand...
Great Performances
Character: Helen
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries....
Movie Credits
Michael
Character: Pansy Milbank
Tabloid reporters are sent by their editor to investigate after the paper recieves a letter from a woman claiming an angel is living with her....
Pursuit of Happiness
Character: Lorraine
An advertising executive fails to realize that the woman of his dreams is his best friend since first grade, now married to his cheating co-worker....
Dead Man's Folly
Character: Ariadne Oliver
During a murder hunt game at a country house, to which Hercule Poirot is invited as an "expert", a real murder occurs....
You've Got Mail
Character: Birdie Conrad
Book superstore magnate, Joe Fox and independent book shop owner, Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet—both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business....
Damn Yankees
Character: Sister Miller
Film adaptation of the George Abbott Broadway musical about a Washington Senators fan who makes a pact with the Devil to help his baseball team win the league pennant....
Cold Turkey
Character: Mrs. Wappler
Reverend Brooks leads the town in a contest to stop smoking for a month, But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts, from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will win a huge prize....
Up the Down Staircase
Character: Sadie Finch
Sylvia, a novice schoolteacher, is hired to teach English in a high school, but she’s met with an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students....
Bells Are Ringing
Character: Sue
Ella Peterson works in the basement office of Susanswerphone, a telephone answering service. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities for her clients. They include an out-of-work Method actor, a dentist with musical yearnings, and in particular playwright Jeffrey Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and desperately needs a muse....
The Buddy System
Character: Mrs. Price
A school truant officer uncovers a young boy's attempt to fake his residential address and subsequently befriends the kid and his mother....
Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff
Character: Self
Gonzo hosts this collection of some of the weirdest moments from The Muppet Show at his trailer home, assisted by Camilia and visited by Kermit The Frog....
Something Wild
Character: Shirley Johnson
A young rape victim tries desperately to pick up the pieces of her life, only to find herself at the mercy of a would-be rescuer....
The Television Revolution Begins: "All in the Family" Is On the Air
Character: Self
DVD featurette documenting the success of "All in the Family"....
Those Were the Days: The Birth of "All in the Family"
Character: Self
DVD featurette documenting the beginnings of "All in the Family"...
Baby
Character: Byrd
A couple finds a baby on their doorstep with a note asking them to temporarily keep it. They take the baby in and care for it as if it were their own. But what if the baby's mom really returns to claim it?...
Chance of a Lifetime
Character: Mrs. Dunbar
Irreverent freelance investigative reporter Tom Maguire hits rock bottom when bigot editor in chief Ivan refuses to print his pieces anymore and his bad back most be operated, but his health insurance just expired. Sympathetic editor Irene Dunbar, feeling guilty she didn't save his job, volunteers for a fake marriage so he can use her insurance. The 'happy couple' in now constantly beleaguered by her mother and an insurance inspector, while each has his own affairs, but the co-habitation also se...
Angel Dusted
Character: Betty Eaton
Cautionary anti-drug film based on a true story about the effects on Jean Stapleton and Arthur Hill when their teenage son (John Putch, Stapleton's real-life son) gets spaced out on a marijuana joint laced with PCP, or "angel dust," and the family is forced to wrestle with the crisis....
Lily Dale
Character: Mrs. Coons
In 1910, 19-year-old Horace Robedaux, still bitter toward his stepfather, goes to Houston to be reunited with his mother, Corella, and his sister, Lily Dale, following a long estrangement. He has not seen either since he was 12 because his wicked stepfather, Pete Davenport (whom his mother married after his father drank himself to death) believes a boy ought to be self-reliant....
The Last Laugh
Character: Self
Feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech....
Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists
Character: Narrator
Profiles on the creative processes of Dale Messick, Cathy Guisewite, Nicole Hollander, and Lynda Barry, preceded by a brief overview of early female comic strip artists....
Klute
Character: Goldfarb’s Secretary
A high-priced call girl is forced to depend on a reluctant private eye when she is stalked by a psychopath....
Aunt Mary
Character: Mary Dobkin
The true-life drama about a handicapped Baltimore woman living on welfare who organized a sandlot baseball team and ended up coaching more than 50,000 boys and girls over nearly 40 years....
Eleanor, First Lady of the World
Character: Eleanor Roosevelt
Biography of former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who forged a new role for herself in the years after her husband's death....
Tail Gunner Joe
Character: Mrs. DeCamp
Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin accuses prominent people of Communist sympathies in order to give him a national power base when he later planned to run for President....
You Can't Take it With You
Character: Penny Sycamore
Emmy winner Jean Stapleton and Academy Award winner Art Carney star in the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart about a slightly daft family who do exactly as they please....
Fire in the Dark
Character: Henry Dutton
A 75-year old widow with battles herself as she struggles with being a burden to those she loves. Though determined not to rely on her children, she is forced to move in with her daughter after a serious fall, and the family learns to face the future with dignity and hope....
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Character: Mrs. Jenkins (voice)
When news of John Smith's death reaches America, Pocahontas is devastated. She sets off to London with John Rolfe, to meet with the King of England on a diplomatic mission: to create peace and respect between the two great lands. However, Governor Ratcliffe is still around; he wants to return to Jamestown and take over. He will stop at nothing to discredit the young princess....
A Matter of Sex
Character: Irene Wallin
Dramatization of the true story of the so-called Willmar Eight, a group of Minnesota bank workers who braved freezing conditions whilst picketing their branch in a struggle for union rights....
Acts of Love and Other Comedies
Character: Gina's Mother
A funny anthology featuring various sketches about people having trouble with love and sex....
Bury Me in Niagara
Character: Mildred
When the controlling mother (Jean Stapleton) of Martin Mallory (Geraint Wyn Davies) dies, Mallory thinks he's finally free of her meddling. But her ghost appears to him at her funeral, brought back to life by a mysterious Japanese stone. Now, Martin must move her body to Niagara Falls, N.Y., within 48 hours, or she won't be allowed into heaven. To make matters worse, Japanese hit men are trying desperately to get the stone back....
Jack and the Beanstalk
Character: The Giantess
Imaginative and creative Jack seeks adventure while trying to provide for himself and his mother. Will he ever solve the mystery of how his father died?...
Cinderella
Character: Fairy Godmother
An oppressed young woman finds happiness when she secretly attends the royal ball....
Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes
Character: Irene Silverman
The real-life case based on the horrific crimes of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the mother and son duo who specialized in theft, fraud and murder....
Pursuit of Happiness
Character: Lorrraine
An advertising executive fails to realize that the woman of his dreams is his best friend since first grade, now married to his cheating co-worker....
The Trial
Character: Landlady (uncredited)
Joseph K. awakes one morning, to find two strange men in his room, telling him he has been arrested. Joseph is not told what he is charged with, and despite being "arrested," is allowed to remain free and go to work. But despite the strange nature of his arrest, Joseph soon learns that his trial, however odd, is very real, and tries desperately to spare himself from the court's judgement....
Isabel's Choice
Character: Isabel Cooper
When the boss she helped climb the corporate ladder is forced into early retirement, a widowed executive secretary must choose between his surprise marriage proposal or new challenges and continuing her career by helping his successor adjust to his company duties....
Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
Character: Mother Goose
Set in the mythical world of Rhymeland, Gordon Goose returns home to discover that his mom has mysteriously vanished. Now the characters of Rhymeland are in danger of disappearing unless Mother Goose returns....
The Habitation of Dragons
Character: Lenora Tolliver
Two brothers of totally different natures live in a small town in Texas. Since the death of their father they confront one another all the time for all kind of major and minor problems....
The Muppets Go Hollywood
Character: Self
Kermit the Frog throws a glamorous party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub to celebrate the premiere of the Muppets' first feature film, The Muppet Movie. Hosts Dick van Dyke and Rita Moreno interview the wide array of celebrities and Muppets who attend the event. Gary Owens serves as off-camera announcer, and appears on-screen to introduce Miss Piggy....
Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
Character: Fairy Godmother
Faerie Tale Theatre's "Cinderella" more than lives up to the series' stellar legacy of creative fairytale adaptations. Featuring a cast which includes Jennifer Beals, Jean Stapleton and Matthew Broderick it shines with intelligence and romance. It even subtly improves on the Disney classic by giving the prince a proper name; that of Henry. Jennifer Beals does admirable work as the title heroine, humanizing(as much as she can)one of the archetypal figures in mythical storytelling. Matthew Broder...