Stapleton, Jean [neé Jeanne Murray] (b. 1923), character actress. The bony, precise performer, forever remembered for her years on television, enjoyed a busy theatre career before, during, and after her glory days on the tube. She was born in New York and educated at Hunter College, after which she worked as a secretary while studying acting at the American Apprentice Theatre, the American Actors Company, and the American Theatre Wing. Stapleton was featured as the baseball fan Sister in Damn Yankees (1955) and as the answering service owner Sue in Bells Are Ringing (1956). While she played supporting roles on Broadway in the 1960s, Stapleton performed a variety of major characters in stock, particularly at the Totem Pole Playhouse in Pennsylvania. She returned there for many summers even after she became famous on television. When Stapleton reappeared on Broadway in 1986, she was a bona fide stage star in Arsenic and Old Lace (1986), though later she preferred the more intimate Off‐Broadway venue, where she acted in several dramas by Horton Foote.
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Jean Stapleton
Oxford Companion to American Theatre:
Jean Stapleton |
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AMG AllMovie Guide:
Jean Stapleton |
Biography
Each and every week from 1971 to 1980, the popular TV sitcom All in the Family was heralded by the glass-shattering offkey singing of Edith Bunker, aka "Dingbat." This tended to obscure the fact that Jean Stapleton, the woman who so brilliantly portrayed Edith not only possessed a lilting, well-modulated singing voice, but also was as far removed as possible from a "dingbat" in real life. While attending Hunter College, Stapleton began her performing career as a member of the Robert Shaw Chorale. She made her professional stage debut in 1941, then went on to fruitful work-study associations with the American Apprentice Theater, the American Actors Company, the American Theater Wing, and director-acting coach Harold Clurman. Her first Broadway appearance was in the 1953 production In the Summer House; the following year, she made her TV bow as a semi-regular on the daytime drama Woman With a Past. She endeared herself to Broadwayites with her wistfully funny characterizations in the SRO musicals Damn Yankees, Bells Are Ringing, and Funny Girl, roles that she would carry over into the film versions of these hits. In 1958, she made her first appearance at the Totem Pole Playhouse in Fayetteville, PA, a summer-stock operation managed by her husband, Bill Putch.Most of Stapleton's onscreen work in the 1960s and 1970s could be found in New York-based movies (Something Wild, Up the Down Staircase, Klute) and TV series (Car 54, Where Are You, The Defenders, The Patty Duke Show). Her earliest association with producer-director Norman Lear occurred in the 1969 theatrical feature Cold Turkey, in which she played a neurotic housewife named Edith. When Lear began assembling the cast for his upcoming TV sitcom All in the Family, he immediately thought of Stapleton for the role of slow-witted, strident, essentially kindhearted Bronx housewife Edith Bunker. Before leaving the series in 1980, Stapleton earned three Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Edith -- not to mention the undying affection of millions.
Once free of All in the Family, she sought out roles that she hoped would demonstrate her versatility: She played the distraught mother of a drug-addicted teenager (enacted by her real-life son, John Putch) in the made-for-TV Angel Dusted (1981), and effectively portrayed Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 TV biopic Eleanor: First Lady of the World. Stapleton kept her comic skills sharpened by appearing in the made-for-cable productions of Shelley Duvall: She was terrific as a no-nonsense Fairy Godmother ("Trust me. This is important.") in Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater adaptation of Cinderella, and even better as the title characters in Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. In 1990, she briefly returned to weekly television as co-star (with Whoopi Goldberg) of the offbeat sitcom Bagdad Café. Jean Stapleton was then an infrequent but always welcome TV guest-star presence; in 1995, she startled (and delighted) her Edith Bunker fans with her con brio portrayal of Lea Thompson's sex-starved aunt in an episode of Caroline in the City. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Filmography:
Jean Stapleton |
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Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World Buy this Movie |
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Lily Dale Buy this Movie |
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Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories, Vol. 2: Elizabeth and Larry Buy this Movie |
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All in the Family 20th Anniversary Special Buy this Movie |
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Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella Buy this Movie |
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Faerie Tale Theatre: Jack and the Beanstalk Buy this Movie |
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
Jean Stapleton |
- Genres: Soundtrack
Biography
"Those were the days..." Jean Stapleton is most remembered for and recognized as the beloved "dingbat" and grandmotherly Edith Bunker from the hit '70s television series All in the Family (1971-1979). Her character's hitch: a sweet soul adjusting to a changing world a whole lot better than her bigot husband, Archie. Both characters became pop icons and props from the show have been retired to the Smithsonian Museum. After winning three Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy and three Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Television Series during the run of the show, the character Edith also appeared on the first season of the spin-off, entitled Archie's Place.Relatively unknown until her stint on the series, Stapleton, typically a character actor, had quite a stage career. Even with her television success, continues to favor the stage today. She appeared in the original casts of Funny Girl and Damn Yankees early in her career. In 1989, she won the Obie Award for both The Birthday Party and Mountain Language. In the later part of the 20th century, she appeared in revivals of Arsenic and Old Lace, The Cherry Orchard, and The Matchmaker.
Stapleton never did another successful network television series; there was a brief attempt with Baghdad Café, co-starring Whoopi Goldberg, and she also turned down an offer for the lead part in Murder, She Wrote. But in the 20 years after All in the Family, Stapleton continued to make a number of made-for-TV movies such as Eleanor: Woman of the World (playing the part of Eleanor Roosevelt) as well as several features. She undertook the role of Eleanor a second time in the solo stage show Eleanor: Her Secret Journey. She also made memorable guest appearances on sitcoms like Grace Under Fire (for which she received an Emmy nomination), Murphy Brown, and Everybody Loves Raymond. She also received a Cable Ace Award nomination for the mini-series Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, in which she played the title role (from the children's books) and did many movies, including Up the Down Staircase, The Buddy System, and Michael. Stapleton's unique voice has been heard in the Disney feature Pocahontas and the family film Dr. DoLittle.
She got her start on-stage in the '40s and made her first appearance on television in the 1954 series Woman With a Past. Norman Lear then cast her in the movie Cold Turkey in the early '70s and then, ultimately, as Edith. She studied at Hunter College in New York as well as the American Apprentice Theater, the American Actor's Company, and American Theater Wing. Married to producer and director William H. Putch from 1957 until his death in 1983, they had a daughter, Pamela, who is a producer, and a son, John, who is an actor and director. ~ Sandy Lawson, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
Jean Stapleton |
| Jean Stapleton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeanne Murray January 19, 1923 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, Comedian |
| Years active | 1941-2001 |
| Spouse | William H. Putch (1956–1983; his death); 2 children |
Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923)[1][2] is an American character actress of stage, television and film.
She is best known for her portrayal of Edith Bunker, the long-suffering, yet devoted wife of Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor) and mother of Gloria Stivic (played by Sally Struthers), on the 1970s situation comedy All in the Family.[1] Stapleton was also seen occasionally on the All in the Family follow-up series, Archie Bunker's Place, but, tired of the role, asked to be written out after the first season.[1]
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Career
Born in New York, New York, the daughter of Joseph E. Murray (a billboard advertising salesman) and Marie Stapleton Murray (a singer), she attended Hunter College.[3] She began her career in 1941 in summer stock, aged 18, and made her New York debut in American Gothic, an Off-Broadway play.
She was featured on Broadway in several hit musicals, such as Damn Yankees, Funny Girl, Bells Are Ringing, and Juno. She guest starred in many television series, including the role of Rosa Criley in the 1963 episode "The Bride Wore Pink" on NBC's medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour.
Her early work on television included roles in Starlight Theater, Robert Montgomery Presents, Lux Video Theater, Woman with a Past, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Dr. Kildare, Dennis the Menace and Naked City. On an episode of The Defenders broadcast on 1 December 1962, Jean Stapleton guest-starred with future TV-husband Carroll O'Connor.
In 1982, Stapleton portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt in a television production of the First Lady's later life. In 1998, and for a few years afterward, Stapleton took her "Eleanor" characterization to live theaters, now adapted as a one-woman show.[4] She co-starred in Bagdad Cafe with Whoopi Goldberg, the TV series based on the movie of the same name.
Her awards for All in the Family include three Emmys[5] and two Golden Globes. She was offered a role in the feature film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as Mrs. Teevee (the role went to Nora Denney), but she declined because it coincided with the production of the All in the Family pilot.[2]
Stapleton appeared in made-for-TV movies and feature films such as Klute, the comedy Cold Turkey and the Faerie Tale Theatre episode "Cinderella" as the fairy godmother and as the Giant's Wife in "Jack and the Beanstalk". She also had a recurring role on TV's Scarecrow and Mrs. King as a British spy. She appeared in the educational series Beakman's World as Beakman's mother, "Beakmom."
In 1996 she played opposite John Travolta, portraying the eccentric rooming house owner, Pansy Milbank in Nora Ephron's hit Michael. Stapleton also appeared in the 1998 feature You've Got Mail as a close co-worker in whom Meg Ryan's character confides. Stapleton appeared on the CBS television series Touched By An Angel as an angel named Emma.
In the 1990s, Stapleton played the role of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, in a children's series of the same name based on the books by Betty MacDonald. The show was created by Shelley Duvall, and lasted only one season. The series is available on video.[6]
In 1996, she appeared in the Everybody Loves Raymond episode "I Wish I Were Gus" playing Ray's Aunt Alda.[7] That same year, she also appeared in the Murphy Brown episode "All in the Family" playing Miles's grandmother, Nana Silverberg.[8] Making a debut in the world of video games, Stapleton was the voice of Grandma Ollie on KinderActive, Turner Pictures, and New Line Cinema's venture "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup." The game won a Teacher's Choice Award from Learning Magazine. In 1998, Stapleton guest-starred in the Jean Smart sitcom, Style & Substance, playing a former television chef who has since "lost her marbles."
She voiced John Rolfe's maid, Mrs. Jenkins in Disney's 1998 direct-to-video animated film Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. She has not been active in the movie industry since, but today does "tweet" to fans on a Twitter account (@jeanstapleton).
Personal life
For 30 years, Stapleton's husband William Putch (1924-1983) directed a summer stock theater, Totem Pole Playhouse, at Caledonia State Park in southern Pennsylvania. Stapleton performed occasionally at the theatre with the resident company. Together they had two children: actor/writer/director John Putch and actress Pamela Putch.[9]
Stapleton's brother, Jack Stapleton, was a stage actor. Her cousin is actress Betty Jane Watson.
References
- ^ a b c "Biography for Jean Stapleton". http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=183134. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ a b Michael Karol. Funny Ladies. p. 46.
- ^ Betty Goodwin (January 5, 1986). "Jean Stapleton: 'Stardom isn't a Goal'". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/arts/jean-stapleton-stardom-isn-t-a-goal.html?&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ Robert Faires (November 10, 2000). "Image of a First Lady". Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:79262. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
- ^ Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (TV Series 1994)
- ^ "I Wish I Were Gus" at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "All in the Family" at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "William H. Putch (Obituary)". New York Times. November 25, 1983. http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/25/obituaries/william-h-putch.html. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
External links
- Jean Stapleton at the Internet Movie Database
- Jean Stapleton at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jean Stapleton at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Archive of American Television Interview with Jean Stapleton (2000)
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 | Oxford Companion to American Theatre. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Ghost Mom (1993 Film)
- Isabel's Choice (1981 Drama Film)
- Angel Dusted (1981 Drama Film)
- Bury Me In Niagara (1993 Comedy Film)
- Archie Eats and Runs: All in the Family (TV Episode) (1974 Comedy TV Episode)
- I Wish I Were Gus: Everybody Loves Raymond (TV Episode) (1996 Comedy TV Episode)
- All in the Family: Murphy Brown (TV Episode) (1996 Comedy TV Episode)
- Dandy Nichols (Actor, Comedy/Drama)
- Eleanor: First Lady of the World (1982 Drama Film)
- Grown Ups (1986 Drama Film)
- Dead Man's Folly (1986 Mystery Film)
- Jack and the Beanstalk: Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Episode) (1982 Fantasy TV Episode)
- Little Miss Bunker: All in the Family (TV Episode) (1978 Comedy TV Episode)
- A Girl Like Edith: All in the Family (TV Episode) (1979 Comedy TV Episode)