Maureen Stapleton, the American actress of stage and screen, who died last Monday, was a great lady and a personal friend, spent her later lonely years playing trivia games in a local bar.
By MEIR RONNENMaureen Stapleton 88 298(photo credit: )
Maureen Stapleton, the American actress of stage and screen, who died in Lenox, Massachussetts last Monday aged 80, was a great lady and a personal friend, who spent her later lonely years playing trivia games in a local bar.
Winner of an Oscar for her portrayal of Emma Goldman in Reds, she was also the winner of an Emmy and two Tony awards, the first for her appearance in the stage debut of Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo". Her screen appearances included Lonelyhearts (1959), Airport (1969) and Interiors (1968), the Bergmanesque Woody Allen film in which she gave a superb performance as the Other Woman.
On Broadway, she made her name in milestone plays like "Orpheus Descending," "The Glass Menagerie," "Toys in the Attic," "The Little Foxes," "Plaza Suite" and "The Gingerbread Lady".
Born in Troy, New York, Stapleton escaped to Manhattan at age 18, working as a waitress and an artist's model while attending Herbert Berghof's school for actors. At the Artists Studio she befriended Marilyn Monroe, whose talents she much admired. No glamour girl herself, she made a virtue of no-nonsense performances and was equally no-nonsense in life, bolstered by a cheery sense of humor.
Stapleton had three husbands, two of them Jewish, and joked that she was an honorary Jew. She is survived by her son and daughter with her first husband, stage manager Max Allentuck.
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