Celebrity Nooz: Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton (Actress) as Edith Bunker - All in the Family

Updated: 1/5/12

Name: Jean Stapleton

Birth Name: Jeanne Murray

Born: January 19, 1923, New York, New York

Claim To Fame: She is best known for her portrayal of Edith Bunker on the 1970s situation comedy All in the Family.

Family Life: She was married to William H. Putch (1956?1983; his death) and they have two children together: actor/writer/director John Putch and actress Pamela Putch.

Info: Stapleton's career began when she was 18 doing summer stock, and she made her debut in an off Broadway play called American Gothic. She appeared in a number of several hit Broadway musicals including Damn Yankees, Funny Girl, Bells Are Ringing, and Juno.

She had roles on television 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. In 1982, she played Eleanor Roosevelt in a television production of the First Lady's later life, a role that she later took to live theaters.

She went on to appear in made-for-TV movies and feature films, and 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." She appeared in such films as Nora Ephron's hit Michael and the 1998 feature You've Got Mail, and guest starred on TV series including Everybody Loves Raymond and Murphy Brown.

In the 1990s, she appeared on the children's series Piggle Wiggle as the title character. The show was based on the books by Betty MacDonald, and was created by Shelley Duvall. Stapleton also did some work on video games, providing the voice of Grandma Ollie on KinderActive, Turner Pictures, and New Line Cinema's venture "Grandma Ollie's Morphabet Soup." She was also the voice of John Rolfe's maid Mrs. Jenkins in Disney's 1998 direct-to-video animated film Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.

Trivia: Her brother, Jack Stapleton, was a stage actor. Her cousin is actress Betty Jane Watson.

She attended Hunter College.

Ran Totem Pole Playhouse, a Summerstock Theatre, in Caledonia State Park, outside Chambersburg, PA.

Was offered a role in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), but turned it down to work on the pilot of "All in the Family" (1968).

Was offered the role of Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), but declined.

Her awards for All in the Family include three Emmys and two Golden Globes.

Where Are They Now: Her last role was alongside Mary Tyler Moore in "Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes" (2001). Stapleton played the role of a wealthy socialite who Moore's character manipulates her son to murder.

She continued to be involved in social affiliations, such as her role as long-running chair of Women's Research & Education Institute, a group focused on issues affecting women.

Today, she is retired from acting, but she does today does "tweet" to fans on a Twitter account (@jeanstapleton).

Write To Jean Stapleton:
Jean Stapleton
c/o Bauman, Hiller and Associates
5757 Wilshire Blvd. 5th Flr
Los Angeles, CA 90036

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