Jean (Ya Gotta Have Heart) Stapleton

 

  Jeanne Murray of New York City was born in 1923.

Her father was a billboard salesman,

her mother a classical singer. 

She entered Hunter College, but exited "stage left" 

to study at the American Actors Company.

Summer stock (in Peaks Island, Maine) followed, 

as did a name change:

Jean thought "Stapleton", her mother's maiden name,

sounded more sophisticated than Murray.

 

Jean's first Broadway show was

The Summer House...

but before that she toured in the national company

of Harvey,

and understudied Shirley Booth in

Come Back, Little Sheba.

By 1955 she'd claimed the role of baseball fan

Sister Miller, in Damn Yankees

and played it both on stage and in the film

(above with Tab Hunter).

The same "double play" happened 

for Jean with Bells Are Ringing,

playing Sue of "Sue's Answer Phone",

in the musical AND the subsequent flick.

Above with Judy Holliday (Ella Peterson)

and below,

pre-dating Lily Tomlin's Ernestine!

A highlight from 1964...

Jean's appearance as Mrs. Strakosh 

in Funny Girl

(above with Babs and Syd Chaplin),

singing "Find Yourself A Man" and

"If A Girl Isn't Pretty"

with co-star Kay Medford. 

Jean would also appear in Juno (1959),

and Rhinocerous (1961),

but after Funny Girl,

television called!

After many television appearances in the early 60s

(Car 54, Dennis The Menace, Dr. Kildare, 

My Three Sons, and a ton of others!),

Jean was chosen for what would become her

signature role,

Edith Bunker on All In The Family.

Above with Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, and

Carroll O'Connor.

Jean would stay with the show for 

8 years,

and garner 3 Emmys and 2 Golden Globes

for her portrayal.

Below with Bea Arthur 

(who played Edith's cousin, Maude, on the show)

and creator/director Norman Lear.

With Art Carney in rehearsal for

You Can't Take It With You,

made for CBS in 1979.

As Eleanor Roosevelt,

in a TV movie called

"Eleanor: First Lady Of The World"

in 1982. 

Throughout the 1980s and 90s,

Jean appeared in many television shows,

made for TV movies, as well as feature films,

regional theatre, and even operatic adventures!

In 1977 President Jimmy Carter appointed Jean to the 

National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year, 

which included Bella Abzug, Maya Angelou, Betty Ford, Coretta Scott King, Gloria Steinem, and 36 others. 

 She also served as the 

Chair of the Women’s Research & Education Institute

for several years. 

In 1991, I had the pleasure of seeing Jean in a 

one-woman, off-Broadway show with 2 acts:

First act...the "Italian Lesson" written and performed originally by 

Ruth Draper,

and Second act...a Julia Child musical, "Bon Appetit."

A Mel Gussow quote here from the NYTimes:

"She mimics Miss Childs's distinctive voice 

as she rolls up her sleeves and dives into her "battle plan" 

(or is it "batter plan"?). 

A general of the kitchen, she mimes the marshaling of her pots, pans 

and cornstarch

 and suggests that anyone following her instructions 

should have "a self-cleaning kitchen like mine."

Jean passed away at the age of 90,

in 2013,

in her hometown of NY, NY.

Co-star Sally Struthers said of her,

  "she was just a walking, living angel".