Maureen Stapleton Biography

Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress in film, theater and television.

Early life

Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene (née Walsh) and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family. Her father was an alcoholic and her parents separated during her childhood.

Career

Stapleton moved to New York City at the age of eighteen, and did modeling to pay the bills. She once said that it was her infatuation with the handsome Hollywood actor Joel McCrea which led her into acting. She made her Broadway debut in the production featuring Burgess Meredith of The Playboy of the Western World in 1946. That same year, she played the role of Iras in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" in a touring production by actress and producer Katharine Cornell. Stepping in because Anna Magnani refused the role due to her limited English, Stapleton won a Tony Award for her role in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo in 1951. (Magnani's English improved, however, and she was able to play the role in the film version, winning an Oscar.) Stapleton played in other Williams' productions, including Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton and Orpheus Descending (and its film adaptation, The Fugitive Kind, co-starring her friend Marlon Brando), as well as Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic. She won a second Tony Award for Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady, which was written especially for her, in 1971. Later Broadway roles included "Birdie" in The Little Foxes opposite Elizabeth Taylor and as a replacement for Jessica Tandy in The Gin Game.

Stapleton's film career, though limited, brought her immediate success, with her debut in Lonelyhearts (1958) earning a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in the 1963 film version of Bye Bye Birdie, in the role of Mama Mae Peterson, with Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde and Ann-Margret. Stapleton played the role of Dick Van Dyke's mother, even though she was only five months and 22 days older than Van Dyke. She was nominated again for an Oscar for Airport (1970) and Woody Allen's Interiors (1978). She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Reds (1981), directed by Warren Beatty, in which she portrayed the Lithuanian-born anarchist, Emma Goldman. She ended her acceptance speech with the quip "I would like to thank everyone I've ever met in my entire life."

Stapleton won a 1968 Emmy Award for her performance in Among the Paths of Eden. She was nominated for the television version of All the King's Men (1959), Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975), and The Gathering (1977). Her more recent appearances included Johnny Dangerously (1984), Cocoon (1985) and its sequel Cocoon: The Return (1988).

She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. She was an alumna of the famous Actors Studio in New York City, led by Lee Strasberg. She became friends with Marilyn Monroe, who was only one year younger than Stapleton. She was impressed with Monroe's talent, and always thought it was a shame that Monroe was rarely allowed to play roles beyond the ditzy blonde. By comparison, Stapleton thought herself lucky: "I never had that problem. People looked at me on stage and said, 'Jesus, that broad better be able to act.'" One of the most famously remembered scenes at the studio was when Stapleton and Monroe acted in Anna Christie together.

She hosted the 19th episode of Season 4 of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

Personal life

Stapleton's first husband was Max Allentuck, general manager to the producer Kermit Bloomgarden, and her second, playwright David Rayfiel, from whom she divorced in 1966. She had a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Katherine, by her first husband. Her daughter, Katherine Allentuck, garnered good reviews for her single movie role, that of "Aggie" in Summer of '42 (Stapleton herself also had a minor, uncredited role in the film as the protagonist's mother, though only her voice is heard, she does not appear on camera).

Stapleton suffered from anxiety and alcoholism for many years and once told an interviewer, "The curtain came down and I went into the vodka." She also said that her unhappy childhood contributed to her insecurities. A lifelong heavy smoker, Stapleton died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2006 at her home in Lenox, Massachusetts.

In 1981 Hudson Valley Community College in Stapleton's childhood city of Troy, New York, dedicated a theater in her name.

Maureen was not, as commonly believed, related to the actress Jean Stapleton.

Filmography

"The Gathering Part II" Kate Thornton

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1955	Justice		"Track of Fear" (1 episode) (NBC)
1958	All the King's Men		TV Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
	Lonelyhearts	Fay Doyle	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1959	The Fugitive Kind	Vee Talbot
1961	Vu du pont	Beatrice Carbone	aka A View from the Bridge
1961	Car 54, Where Are You?	Mrs. Anna Lupesko	"The Gypsy Curse" (NBC)
1961	Naked City	Abbey Bick	"Ooftus Goofus" aired on 12/13/1961 on ABC, Season 3,Episode 11
1962	Naked City	Ruth Callan	"Kill Me While I'm Young So I Can Die Happy" aired on 10/17/1962 on ABC, Season 4,Episode 5
1963	Bye Bye Birdie	Mama Mae Peterson
1967	Among the Paths to Eden	Mary O'Meaghan	TV Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1969	Truman Capote's Trilogy	Mary O'Meaghan	Reprise of Emmy winning 1967 role
1970	Airport	Inez Guerrero	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1971	Plaza Suite	Karen Nash	Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	Summer of '42	Hermie's mother	Voice (Uncredited)
1972	Dig	Mother
1974	Voyage to Next	Mother Earth	Voice
1975	Queen of the Stardust Ballroom	Beatrice 'Bea' Asher	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1977	The Gathering	Kate Thornton	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1978	Interiors	Pearl	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place) New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1979	The Runner Stumbles	Mrs. Shandig
	Lost and Found	Jemmy
1981	Reds	Emma Goldman	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
	The Fan	Belle Goldman
	On the Right Track	Mary the Bag Lady
1982	The Electric Grandmother	Grandmother	TV
	Little Gloria... Happy at Last	Nurse Emma Kieslich	TV miniseries
1984	Johnny Dangerously	Ma Kelly
1985	Cocoon	Marilyn Luckett
	Private Sessions	Dr. Liz Bolger	TV
1986	Heartburn	Vera
	The Cosmic Eye	Mother Earth	Voice
	The Money Pit	Estelle
1987	Nuts	Rose Kirk
	Made in Heaven	Aunt Lisa
	Sweet Lorraine	Lillian Garber
1988	Liberace: Behind the Music	Frances Liberace	TV
	The Thorns	Peggy/Mrs. Hamilton	TV series
	Doin' Time on Planet Earth	Helium Balloon Saleslady
	Cocoon: The Return	Marilyn 'Mary' Luckett
1989	B.L. Stryker	Auntie Sue	1 episode Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1992	Passed Away	Mary Scanlan
	Lincoln	Sarah Bush Lincoln	TV, voice
	Miss Rose White	Tanta Perla	Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1994	Trading Mom	Mrs. Cavour, the Gardener
	The Last Good Time	Ida Cutler
1995	Road to Avonlea	Maggie MacPhee	1 episode Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1996	My Universe Inside Out		Voice
1997	Addicted to Love	Nana
1998	Wilbur Falls	Wilbur Falls High Secretary
2003	Living and Dining	Mrs. Lundt