Maureen Stapleton

Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
	Stapleton and Charles Durning in Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975)
Born	Lois Maureen Stapleton; June 21, 1925; Troy, New York, U.S.
Died	March 13, 2006 (aged 80); Lenox, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1946–2003
Spouse(s)	Max Allentuck; (m. 1949; div. 1959) David Rayfiel; (m. 1963; div. 1966)
Children	2

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

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Lonelyhearts (1958), Airport (1970), and Interiors (1978), before winning for her performance as Emma Goldman in Reds (1981). For Reds, Stapleton also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, winning for Airport. Other notable film roles included Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Plaza Suite (1971), The Fan (1981), Cocoon (1985), and The Money Pit (1986).

She was nominated for seven Emmy Awards and won one for the television film Among the Paths to Eden (1967).[1]

Stapleton made her Broadway debut in 1946 in The Playboy of the Western World, and went on to win the 1951 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Rose Tattoo and the 1971 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Gingerbread Lady. She received four additional Tony Award nominations[2] and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.

She was "almost an EGOT," having won the Triple Crown of Acting, every major performing award except a Grammy, for which she was nominated in 1975.[3]

Early life

Stapleton was born in Troy, New York, the daughter of John P. Stapleton and Irene (née Walsh), and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family.[4][5] Her father was an alcoholic and her parents separated during her childhood.[6][7]

Career

With Don Murray in The Rose Tattoo (1951).

Stapleton moved to New York City at the age of 18, and modeled to pay the bills, including for artist Raphael Soyer. 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.[8] 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 in The Cold Wind and the Warm (Tony nomination, 1959) and Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1960), for which she received another Tony Award nomination. She was nominated for a Tony Award for Neil Simon's Plaza Suite in 1968 and won a second Tony Award for Simon's The Gingerbread Lady, which was written especially for her, in 1971. Later Broadway roles included a Tony-nominated turn as "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 nominations for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award.[9] 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 (Golden Globe Award nomination, 1970[9]) and Woody Allen's Interiors (Golden Globe Award nomination, 1978[9]). She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Reds (1981), directed by Warren Beatty, in which she portrayed the Lithuanian-born anarchist, Emma Goldman. In her acceptance speech, she stated, "I would like to thank everyone I've ever met in my entire life." Her later appearances included Johnny Dangerously (1984), Cocoon (1985), and its sequel Cocoon: The Return (1988).

Stapleton won a 1968 Emmy Award for her performance in Among the Paths of Eden and was nominated for six more, for Avonlea (1996), Miss Rose White (1992), B.L. Stryker (1989), the television version of All the King's Men (1959), Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975), and The Gathering (1977), and Kraft Theatre (1959).[1] She also appeared opposite Laurence Olivier and Natalie Wood in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976).

She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981.[10] She was an alumna of the famous Actors Studio in New York City, led by Lee Strasberg, where 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.

Despite her association with Strasberg, Stapleton cited Mira Rostova as her most influential acting teacher.[11] She appeared with Rostova and another of Rostova's pupils, Montgomery Clift, Off-Broadway in The Sea Gull (1954).[12]

She was nominated for a 1975 Grammy Award for the spoken word recording of To Kill a Mockingbird[13].

She hosted the 19th episode of Season 4 of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1979.

Personal life and death

Stapleton's first husband was Max Allentuck, general manager to the producer Kermit Bloomgarden, and her second was playwright David Rayfiel, from whom she divorced in 1966.[14] She had a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Katherine, by her first husband.[15] 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). Her son, Daniel Allentuck, is a documentary filmmaker.

Stapleton suffered from anxiety and alcoholism for many years, and once told an interviewer, "The curtain came down, and I went into the vodka."[16] She also said that her unhappy childhood contributed to her insecurities, which included a fear of flying, airplanes, and elevators.[17] A lifelong heavy smoker, Stapleton died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2006 at her home in Lenox, Massachusetts.[16]

In 1981 Hudson Valley Community College in Stapleton's childhood city of Troy, New York, dedicated a theater in her name.[18]

She was not related to All In the Family star Jean Stapleton (who used her mother's maiden name professionally). Her biography, A Hell of a Life, was published by Simon & Schuster in 1995. In an interview, she states she was raised in the Catholic faith.

Filmography

Film

Year 1953	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Main Street to Broadway	Maureen Stapleton - First Nighter	Uncredited
1958	Lonelyhearts	Fay Doyle	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
1960	The Fugitive Kind	Vee Talbot
1961	A View from the Bridge	Beatrice Carbone
1963	Bye Bye Birdie	Mama Mae Peterson
1969	Trilogy	Mary O'Meaghan	(segment "Among the Paths to Eden")
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	Summer of '42	Hermie's mother	Voice, Uncredited
1971	Plaza Suite	Karen Nash	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
1978	Interiors	Pearl	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress 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 Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1979	Lost and Found	Jemmy
1979	The Runner Stumbles	Mrs. Shandig
1981	On the Right Track	Mary the Bag Lady
	The Fan	Belle Goldman
	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 Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (runner-up)
1984	Johnny Dangerously	Ma Kelly
1985	Cocoon	Marilyn Luckett
1986	The Money Pit	Estelle
	The Cosmic Eye	Mother Earth	Voice
	Heartburn	Vera
1987	Sweet Lorraine[19]	Lillian Garber
	Made in Heaven	Aunt Lisa
	Nuts	Rose Kirk
1988	Cocoon: The Return	Marilyn 'Mary' Luckett
1988	Doin' Time on Planet Earth	Helium Balloon Saleslady
1992	Passed Away	Mary Scanlan
1994	The Last Good Time	Ida Cutler
1994	Trading Mom	Mrs. Cavour
1997	Addicted to Love	Nana
1998	Wilbur Falls	Wilbur Falls High Secretary
2003	Living and Dining	Mrs. Lundt	(final film role)

Television

Year 1994	Title Trading Mom	Role magic old lady	Notes
1954	Medic	Evelyn Strauss	episode: Day 10
1954	The Philco Television Playhouse	Daughter	episode: The Mother
1955	The Philco Television Playhouse	Mrs. Johnson	episode: Incident in July
1956	Armstrong Circle Theatre	Mrs. Elizabeth Steigerwald	episode: H.R. 8438: The Story of a Lost Boy
	The Alcoa Hour	Vi Miller	episode: No License to Kill (II)
	Studio One in Hollywood	Rachel Johnson	episode: Rachel
1958	Kraft Theatre	Sadie Burke	episode: All the King's Men Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Best Single Performance by an Actress
1959	Playhouse 90	Pilar	episode: For Whom the Bell Tolls
1960	CBS Repertoire Workshop	Tessie	episode: Tessie Malfitano and Anton Waldek
1961	Car 54, Where Are You?	Gypsy Woman	episode: The Gypsy Curse
1961	Naked City	Abbey Bick	episode: Ooftus Goofus
1962	Naked City	Ruth Cullan	episode: Kill Me While I'm Young So I Can Die Happy!
1962	The DuPont Show of the Week	Professor Gretchen Anna Thaelman	episode: The Betrayal
1964	East Side/West Side	Molly Cavanaugh	episode: One Drink at a Time
1967	Among the Paths to Eden	Mary O'Meaghan	(TV movie) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama
1969	Mirror, Mirror Off the Wall	Ruthie Maxwell	(TV movie)
1974	Tell Me Where It Hurts	Connie	(TV movie)
1975	Queen of the Stardust Ballroom	Bea Asher	(TV movie) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy
1976	The Lively Arts	Amanda Wingfield in 'The Glass Menagerie'	episode: Tennessee Williams
1976	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Big Mama	(TV movie)
1977	The Gathering	Kate	(TV movie) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special
1979	Letters from Frank	Betty Miller	(TV movie)
	The Gathering, Part II	Kate Thornton	(TV movie)
	Saturday Night Live	Herself (host)	Episode: "Maureen Stapleton/Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow"
1982	The Electric Grandmother	Grandmother	(TV movie)
1982	Little Gloria... Happy at Last	Nurse Emma Kieslich	(TV movie)
1983	Great Performances	White Queen	episode: Alice in Wonderland
1984	Sentimental Journey	Ruthie	(TV movie)
1984	Family Secrets	Maggie Lukauer	(TV movie)
1985	Private Sessions	Dr. Liz Bolger	(TV movie)
1988	The Thorns	Peggy Mrs. Hamilton	episode: The Other Maid episode: The Maid
1988	Liberace: Behind the Music	Frances Liberace	(TV movie)
1989	B.L. Stryker	Auntie Sue	episode: Auntie Sue Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
1989	The Equalizer	Emily Rutherford	episode: The Caper
1992	Last Wish	Ida Rollin	(TV movie)
	Miss Rose White	Tanta Perla	(TV movie) Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
	Lincoln	Sarah Bush Lincoln	(voice) (TV movie)
1995	Road to Avonlea	Maggie MacPhee	episode: What a Tangled Web We Weave Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes
1946–1947	The Playboy of the Western World	Sara Tansey / Pegeen Mike (replacement)	Booth Theatre	81 performances
1947–1948	Antony and Cleopatra	Iras	Martin Beck Theatre	126 performances
1949–1950	Detective Story	Miss Hatch	Hudson Theatre Broadhurst Theatre	581 performances
1950	The Bird Cage	Emily Williams	Coronet Theatre	21 performances
1951	The Rose Tattoo	Serafina Delle Rose	Martin Beck Theatre	306 performances Theatre World Award for Outstanding Individual Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
1953	The Crucible	Elizabeth Proctoer (replacement)	Martin Beck Theatre
1953	The Emperor's Clothes	Bella	Ethel Barrymore Theatre	16 performances
1953	Richard III	Lady Anne	City Center	15 performances
1955	All in One	Flora Meighan	Playhouse Theatre	47 performances
1957	Orpheus Descending	Lady Torrance	Martin Beck Theatre	68 performances
1958–1959	The Cold Wind and the Warm	Ida	Morosco Theatre	120 performances Nominated – Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1960–1961	Toys in the Attic	Carrie Berniers	Hudson Theatre	456 performances Nominated – Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1965	The Glass Menagerie	The Mother	Brooks Atkinson Theatre	175 performances
1966	The Rose Tattoo	Serafina Delle Rose	Billy Rose Theatre	62 performances
1968–1970	Plaza Suite	Karen Nash / Muriel Tate / Norma Hubley	Plymouth Theatre	1,097 performances Nominated – Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1970	Norman, Is That You?	Beatrice Chambers	Lyceum Theatre	12 performances
1970–1971	The Gingerbread Lady	Evy Meara	Plymouth Theatre	193 performances Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
1972	The Country Girl	Georgie Elgin	Billy Rose Theatre	61 performances
1972	The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild	Mildred Wild	Ambassador Theatre	23 performances
1975–1976	The Glass Menagerie	The Mother	Circle in the Square Theatre	77 performances
1977–1978	The Gin Game	Fonisa Dorsey (replacement)	John Golden Theatre
1981	The Little Foxes	Bridie Hubbard	Martin Beck Theatre	126 performances Nominated – Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play

References

"Maureen Stapleton". Television Academy. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
"Maureen Stapleton Tony Awards Info". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
Staff, Legacy (2014-03-13). "Maureen Stapleton: Almost an EGOT". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
Sean O'Driscol (March 2006). "Stapleton, Oscar Winner, Dies at 80". Irish Abroad. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
Tom Vallance (15 March 2006). "Maureen Stapleton". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
The Associated Press (13 March 2006). "Famed Actress Maureen Stapleton Dies". CBS News. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
Robert Berkvist (19 March 2006). "Maureen Stapleton; actress collected Oscar, Tonys, Emmy". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
Mosel, "Leading Lady: The World and Theatre of Katharine Cornell
"Maureen Stapleton". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
"26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame." The New York Times, March 3, 1981.
Stapleton, Maureen; Scovell, Jane (1995). A Hell of a Life: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81092-8.
"The Seagull". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
"Maureen Stapleton". GRAMMY.com. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
Daniel McEneny (June 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: David Rayfiel House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/13/movies/13cnd-stapleton.html?_r=0
Berkvist, Robert (2006-03-13). "Maureen Stapleton, Oscar-Winning Actress, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
Haun, Harry (2006-09-20). "Friends and Colleagues Remember Maureen Stapleton at Memorial". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
Staff writers (1981-11-30). "College to Call Theater The Maureen Stapleton". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
"Overnight fire destroys Heiden Hotel of Sweet Lorraine fame". Times Herald-Record. Middletown, New York: Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc. May 18, 2008. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2010.

External links

Maureen Stapleton at the Internet Broadway Database
Maureen Stapleton at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Maureen Stapleton at IMDb
Maureen Stapleton at Find a Grave
Maureen Stapleton at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
Maureen Stapleton Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

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[:0-1] "Maureen Stapleton". Television Academy. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[2] "Maureen Stapleton Tony Awards Info". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[3] Staff, Legacy (2014-03-13). "Maureen Stapleton: Almost an EGOT". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[4] Sean O'Driscol (March 2006). "Stapleton, Oscar Winner, Dies at 80". Irish Abroad. Retrieved 2008-05-11.

[5] Tom Vallance (15 March 2006). "Maureen Stapleton". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 2008-05-11.

[6] The Associated Press (13 March 2006). "Famed Actress Maureen Stapleton Dies". CBS News. Retrieved 2008-05-11.

[7] Robert Berkvist (19 March 2006). "Maureen Stapleton; actress collected Oscar, Tonys, Emmy". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 2008-05-11.

[8] Mosel, "Leading Lady: The World and Theatre of Katharine Cornell

[:1-9] "Maureen Stapleton". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[10] "26 Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame." The New York Times, March 3, 1981.

[11] Stapleton, Maureen; Scovell, Jane (1995). A Hell of a Life: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81092-8.

[12] "The Seagull". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[13] "Maureen Stapleton". GRAMMY.com. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[nrhpinv_ny-14] Daniel McEneny (June 2009). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: David Rayfiel House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2011-05-15.

[15] ttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/13/movies/13cnd-stapleton.html?_r=0

[nytimes-16] Berkvist, Robert (2006-03-13). "Maureen Stapleton, Oscar-Winning Actress, Is Dead at 80". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-04.

[17] Haun, Harry (2006-09-20). "Friends and Colleagues Remember Maureen Stapleton at Memorial". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-10-05.

[18] Staff writers (1981-11-30). "College to Call Theater The Maureen Stapleton". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-04.

[19] "Overnight fire destroys Heiden Hotel of Sweet Lorraine fame". Times Herald-Record. Middletown, New York: Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc. May 18, 2008. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2010.