Maureen Stapleton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maureen Stapleton
Stapleton in 1975
Born	Lois Maureen Stapleton (1925-06-21)June 21, 1925 Troy, New York, U.S.
Died	March 13, 2006(2006-03-13) (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 a famous American actress. She won many important awards for her acting. These included an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar), a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She also won two Tony Awards for her work on stage.

Maureen Stapleton was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar three times. She was nominated for Lonelyhearts (1958), Airport (1970), and Interiors (1978). She finally won the Oscar for her role as Emma Goldman in the movie Reds (1981). For Reds, she also won a BAFTA Award. She won a Golden Globe Award for her role in Airport.

Some of her other well-known movies include Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and Cocoon (1985). She also had a successful career in television. She won an Emmy Award for the TV film Among the Paths to Eden (1967).

Stapleton started acting on Broadway in 1946. She won her first Tony Award in 1951 for The Rose Tattoo. She won a second Tony Award in 1971 for The Gingerbread Lady. She was recognized for her amazing talent in theater. In 1981, she was added to the American Theatre Hall of Fame. She won almost all the major acting awards, missing only a Grammy.

Early Life and Acting Dreams

Maureen Stapleton was born in Troy, New York. Her parents were John P. Stapleton and Irene Walsh. She grew up in a strict Catholic family. Her parents separated when she was a child.

When she was 18, Maureen moved to New York City. She worked different jobs to pay her bills. She was a salesgirl and a hotel clerk. She even modeled for an artist named Raphael Soyer. Maureen once said she wanted to act because she admired the actor Joel McCrea.

A Star on Stage and Screen

Stapleton with Don Murray in The Rose Tattoo (1951)

Maureen Stapleton made her first Broadway appearance in 1946. It was in a play called The Playboy of the Western World. That same year, she acted in Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra. She toured with actress Katharine Cornell for this play.

Maureen won a Tony Award in 1951 for her role in Tennessee Williams' play The Rose Tattoo. She took over the role because another actress, Anna Magnani, couldn't do it at first. Anna Magnani later played the role in the movie version and won an Oscar.

Stapleton acted in other plays by Tennessee Williams. These included Twenty-seven Wagons Full of Cotton and Orpheus Descending. She also appeared in the movie version of Orpheus Descending, called The Fugitive Kind. In this movie, she acted alongside her friend Marlon Brando.

She was nominated for more Tony Awards for plays like The Cold Wind and the Warm (1959) and Toys in the Attic (1960). She won her second Tony Award for Neil Simon's play The Gingerbread Lady in 1971. This play was written especially for her. Later, she acted in The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor.

Maureen's film career was also very successful. Her first movie, Lonelyhearts (1958), earned her an Oscar nomination. She was in the 1963 movie Bye Bye Birdie. She played Mama Mae Peterson, the mother of Dick Van Dyke's character. She was only a few months older than him!

She was nominated for another Oscar for Airport (1970). She also received an Oscar nomination for Woody Allen's Interiors (1978). She finally won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Reds (1981). In her acceptance speech, she famously said, "I would like to thank everyone I've ever met in my entire life."

Stapleton with Jason Robards in 1958

Her later movies included Johnny Dangerously (1984), Cocoon (1985), and its sequel Cocoon: The Return (1988).

Maureen Stapleton won an Emmy Award in 1968 for her role in Among the Paths of Eden. She was nominated for six more Emmy Awards during her career. She also acted with famous actors like Laurence Olivier in the TV movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976).

She was part of the famous Actors Studio in New York City. There, she became friends with Marilyn Monroe. Maureen was very impressed by Marilyn's acting talent. She felt lucky that she got to play many different kinds of roles.

Maureen was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975. This was for her spoken word recording of To Kill a Mockingbird. She also hosted an episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live in 1979.

Personal Life and Legacy

Maureen Stapleton was married twice. Her first husband was Max Allentuck. Her second husband was playwright David Rayfiel. She had two children with Max: a son named Daniel and a daughter named Katherine. Her daughter Katherine acted in one movie, Summer of '42. Her son Daniel is a documentary filmmaker.

Maureen struggled with anxiety for many years. She also had a fear of flying and elevators. Maureen Stapleton passed away in 2006 from a lung disease. She was at her home in Lenox, Massachusetts.

In 1981, a theater was named after her in her hometown of Troy, New York. It is at Hudson Valley Community College. Maureen Stapleton was not related to the actress Jean Stapleton.

Film Roles

Television Roles

Stage Roles

See also

In Spanish: Maureen Stapleton para niños