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Jean Stapleton
0 FOLLOWERS • 37 CREDITS • JAN 19, 1923 - MAY 31, 2013 • 90
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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".
Overview
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".
Known For
Saturday Night Live
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Lux Video Theatre
E! True Hollywood Story
Robert Montgomery Presents
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Dr. Kildare
The Carol Burnett Show
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Faerie Tale Theatre
The Muppet Show
Touched by an Angel
Everybody Loves Raymond
The Philco Television Playhouse
Route 66
Cher
Murphy Brown
Dennis the Menace
The Love Boat
The Nurses
My Three Sons
The Defenders
Caroline in the City
The Eleventh Hour
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
The Ray Bradbury Theater
Tony Awards
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
You've Got Mail
Lily Dale
The Buddy System
All in the Family
Bagdad Cafe
Beakman's World
Archie Bunker's Place
Woman With A Past
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
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