Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Female

Birthday

January 18, 1923 (102 years old)

Place of Birth

Manhattan, New York, US

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".

Known For

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

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

Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists

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

All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special

TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV

Photos