Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton lahir sebagai Jeanne Murray di Manhattan, New York City, dari pasangan Marie A. (Stapleton), seorang penyanyi opera, dan Joseph Edward Murray, seorang penjual iklan papan reklame. Kakek dan nenek dari pihak ayah adalah orang Irlandia. Dia adalah sepupu aktris Betty Jane Watson. Kerabat lainnya dalam bisnis pertunjukan adalah pamannya, Joseph E. Deming, seorang vaudevillian; dan saudara laki-lakinya Jack Stapleton, seorang aktor panggung. Dia lulus dari Wadleigh High School, NYC, pada tahun 1939, dan bersekolah di Hunter College. Dia bekerja sebagai sekretaris sebelum menjadi aktris. Stapleton melakukan debut panggungnya di Greenwood Playhouse, Peaks Island, Maine, pada musim panas 1941, dan debut panggungnya di New York dalam "The Corn Is Green" (1948). Dia muncul di Broadway dalam musikal "Damn Yankees" (1955) dan "Bells Are Ringing" (1956), dan kemudian mengulangi perannya dalam versi film (Damn Yankees (1958) dan Bells Are Ringing (1960)). Peran Broadway lainnya termasuk perusahaan asli "Rhinoceros" (1961) dan "Funny Girl" (1964). Stapleton juga memerankan Abby Brewster dalam kebangkitan "Arsenic and Old Lace" tahun 1986-87.

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".