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.
Pansy Milbank
Film 1996
Lorraine
Film 2001
Ariadne Oliver
Film 1986
Birdie Conrad
Film 1998
Sister Miller
Film 1958
Mrs. Wappler
Film 1971
Sue
Film 1960
Self
Film
Mrs. Price
Film 1984
Self
Film 1985
Shirley Johnson
Film 1961
Self
Film 2009
Self
Film 2009
Byrd
Film 2000
Mrs. Dunbar
Film 1998
Betty Eaton
Film 1981
Mrs. Coons
Film 1996
Self
Film 2016
Narrator
Film 1991
Goldfarb’s Secretary
Film 1971
Mary Dobkin
Film 1979
Eleanor Roosevelt
Film 1982
Mrs. DeCamp
Film 1977
Mrs. Jenkins (voice)
Film 1998
Irene Wallin
Film 1984
Gina's Mother
Film 1973
Mildred
Film 1993
The Giantess
Film 1983
Fairy Godmother
Film 1985
Irene Silverman
Film 2001
Lorrraine
Film 2001
Landlady (uncredited)
Film 1993
Isabel Cooper
Film 1981
Mother Goose
Film 1990
Lenora Tolliver
Film 1992
Self
Film 1979
Film 1991
Self
Tv 1996
Tv 1960
Tv 1977
Aunt Mary Kosky
Tv 1995
Emma
Tv 1994
Aunt Alda
Tv 1996
Edith Bunker
Tv 1971
Tv 1960
Tv 1996
Tv 1988
Marilyn Konish
Tv 1958
Tv 1993
Tv 1983
Tv 1979
The Giantess
Tv 1982
Beakman's Mom
Tv 1992
Tv 1971
Self - Special Guest Star
Tv 1976
Mary Dobkin
Tv 1951
Tv 1962
Self
Tv 1993
Tv 1959
Self
Tv 1967
Teacher
Tv 1950
Mrs. Larsen
Tv 1961
Tv 1963
Bus Girl
Tv 1948
Tv 1950
Tv 2004
Nurse Whitney
Tv 1961
Tv 1990
Self
Tv 1975
Tv 1987
Tv 1954
Tv 2003
Tv 1985
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
Tv 1975
Mrs. Trellis
Tv 1958
Self
Tv 1961
The Fairy Godmother
Tv 1982
Narrator (Voice)
Tv 1992
Self - Guest / Various Characters
Tv 1967
Self - Presenter
Tv 1956
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
Tv 1994
Self - Host
Tv 1956
Self - Guest
Tv 1968
Mrs. Montgomery
Tv 1962
Gloria Utley
Tv 1998
Helen
Tv 1971