Jean Stapleton was born Jeanne Murray in Manhattan, New York City, to Marie A. Stapleton, an opera singer, and Joseph Edward Murray, a billboard advertising salesman, with Irish paternal grandparents. As a cousin of actress Betty Jane Watson, she was part of a family with a strong presence in the show business industry. Her uncle, Joseph E. Deming, was a vaudevillian, and her brother, Jack Stapleton, was a stage actor. After graduating from Wadleigh High School in 1939 and attending Hunter College, Stapleton worked as a secretary before pursuing a career in acting.
She made her stage debut at the Greenwood Playhouse in Peaks Island, Maine, during the summer of 1941, and her New York stage debut in "The Corn Is Green" in 1948. Stapleton's Broadway credits include the musicals "Damn Yankees" in 1955 and "Bells Are Ringing" in 1956, which she later reprised in the movie versions, "Damn Yankees" (1958) and "Bells Are Ringing" (1960). She also appeared in the original companies of "Rhinoceros" in 1961 and "Funny Girl" in 1964.
In addition to her numerous Broadway roles, Stapleton played the iconic character of Abby Brewster in the 1986-87 revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace".
