Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton was an American character actress who worked on stage, television, and film. Born in Manhattan, New York, she entered summer stock theater in 1942, and her first New York performance came Off-Broadway in American Gothic. On Broadway she appeared in musicals such as Damn Yankees, Bells Are Ringing, Funny Girl, and Juno, then reprised her parts from the first two for their movie adaptations; Damn Yankees (1958) was her film debut. She became best known as Edith Bunker on All in the Family, a role that won her three Emmys and two Golden Globes. Her film credits included Klute and Cold Turkey (both 1971), Up the Down Staircase (1967), Something Wild (1961), Michael (1996), and You've Got Mail (1998). She earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing Eleanor Roosevelt in Eleanor, First Lady of the World, and in 2002 the American Theatre Hall of Fame and the Television Hall of Fame both inducted her.