

Acting
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,...
Highest rated appearances

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

You've Got Mail
as Birdie Conrad

Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
as Mrs. Jenkins (voice)

Chance of a Lifetime
as Mrs. Dunbar

Michael
as Pansy Milbank

Lily Dale
as Mrs. Coons

Bury Me in Niagara
as Mildred

The Trial
as Landlady (uncredited)

The Habitation of Dragons
as Lenora Tolliver

Fire in the Dark
as Henry Dutton

Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists
as Narrator

All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special

Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
as Mother Goose

Dead Man's Folly
as Ariadne Oliver

Cinderella
as Fairy Godmother

Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff
as Self

The Buddy System
as Mrs. Price

A Matter of Sex
as Irene Wallin

Jack and the Beanstalk
as The Giantess

Something's Afoot
as Miss Tweed

Eleanor, First Lady of the World
as Eleanor Roosevelt

Isabel's Choice
as Isabel Cooper

Good Evening, Captain
as Self

Angel Dusted
as Betty Eaton