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".

Filmography

• TV Land Top 10
• TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV
• 2001Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes — Irene Silverman
• 2001Pursuit of Happiness — Lorraine, Lorrraine
• 2000Baby — Byrd
• 1998Chance of a Lifetime — Mrs. Dunbar
• 1998Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World — Mrs. Jenkins (voice)
• Style & Substance — Gloria Utley
• 1998You've Got Mail — Birdie Conrad
• E! True Hollywood Story
• Everybody Loves Raymond — Aunt Alda
• 1996Lily Dale — Mrs. Coons
• 1996Michael — Pansy Milbank
• Caroline in the City — Aunt Mary Kosky
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle — Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
• Touched by an Angel — Emma
• 1993Bury Me in Niagara — Mildred
• Grace Under Fire
• 1993The Trial — Landlady (uncredited)
• Beakman's World — Beakman's Mom
• Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories — Narrator (voice)
• 1992The Habitation of Dragons — Lenora Tolliver
• 1991All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special
• 1991Fire in the Dark — Henry Dutton
• 1991Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists — Narrator
• The General Motors Playwrights Theater — Emilie
• Bagdad Cafe — Jasmine Zweibel
• 1990Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme — Mother Goose
• Murphy Brown
• Trying Times
• 1986Dead Man's Folly — Ariadne Oliver
• 1985Cinderella — Fairy Godmother
• The Ray Bradbury Theater
• 1984A Matter of Sex — Irene Wallin
• 1984The Buddy System — Mrs. Price
• 1983Jack and the Beanstalk — The Giantess
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King
• 1982Eleanor, First Lady of the World — Eleanor Roosevelt
• Faerie Tale Theatre — The Giantess, The Fairy Godmother
• 1982Something's Afoot — Miss Tweed
• 1981Angel Dusted — Betty Eaton
• 1981Isabel's Choice — Isabel Cooper
• 1979Aunt Mary — Mary Dobkin
• 1979You Can't Take it With You — Penny Sycamore
• 1977Tail Gunner Joe — Mrs. DeCamp
• The Love Boat — Helen Branigan
• 1973Acts of Love and Other Comedies — Gina's Mother
• All in the Family — Edith Bunker, Theme Song Performance
• 1971Cold Turkey — Mrs. Wappler
• Great Performances — Helen
• 1971Klute — Goldfarb's Secretary
• The Electric Company
• 1967Up the Down Staircase — Sadie Finch
• The Patty Duke Show
• The Eleventh Hour
• The Nurses — Mrs. Montgomery
• Dr. Kildare — Nurse Whitney
• 1961Something Wild — Shirley Johnson
• The Defenders — Mrs. Larsen
• 1960Bells Are Ringing — Sue
• My Three Sons
• Route 66
• Dennis the Menace
• 1958Damn Yankees — Sister Miller
• Naked City — Marilyn Konish, Mrs. Trellis
• Woman With A Past
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Mary Dobkin
• Lux Video Theatre — Teacher
• Robert Montgomery Presents
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Bus Girl

Appearances as themselves (20)

• 2016The Last Laugh — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2009The Television Revolution Begins: "All in the Family" Is On the Air — Self
• 2009Those Were the Days: The Birth of "All in the Family" — Self
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show — Self
• Intimate Portrait — Self
• 1985Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff — Self
• 1981Good Evening, Captain — Self
• 1979The Muppets Go Hollywood — Self (uncredited)
• The Muppet Show — Self - Special Guest Star
• Cher — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Cameo (uncredited)
• Dinah! — Self
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Self
• The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
• The Carol Burnett Show — Self - Guest / Various Characters
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Host, Self - Presenter
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee