R.I.P., Maureen Stapleton

Maureen Stapleton has died.

She was one of my childhood acting idols, one of the ones responsible for me taking it seriously (we’re talking age 12 – 15, that was when it came to life in me, and Stapleton was a big part of that). Her breakout performance in Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo on Broadway with Eli Wallach is the stuff of legends … what I wouldn’t give for a time machine to see her play that part!

A real actor’s actor, she had a career most people only dream of.

I love this quote from Maureen about being an unattractive person (she knew she was, she had no illusions about herself – especially not with people like Marilyn Monroe as her best friend):

“People looked at me on stage and said, ‘Jesus, that broad better be able to act.'”

And dammit, she could.

Rest in peace, Maureen.

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13 Responses to R.I.P., Maureen Stapleton

  1. David N says:

    A great actor and a great woman. A sad day.

  2. Stevie says:

    Stapleton was amazing in a TV-movie called “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.” Ever see it, Sheila? She sings, dances and acts up a storm. Just wonderful.

    I also loved her in a movie about a Catskills resort – can’t remember the name – with Trini Alvarado as her granddaughter. Lovely, nuanced performance.

    Thank God she was interviewed for Broadway: The Golden Age. I’ve gotta see that DVD again soon.

    Bye, Maureen. We loved you.

  3. red says:

    I never saw Stardust Ballroom, Stevie – I gotta check it out!!

    As wonderful as she was on film – I bet she was out of this WORLD on stage. Just the first-hand reports of her in Rose Tattoo give me shivers!!!

    What the hell happened to Trini Alvarado??

  4. Stevie says:

    Yeah, I’d love to have seen her on stage. She was probably up there in Laurette Taylorland. I think she was one of the most heartbraking performers – I’m pretty sure I cried at every performance of hers, even “Airport.”

    “Queen of the Stardust Ballroom” was phenomenal. She plays a widow who’s pissed at the world that her husband died. She’s almost given up completely when a friend drags her to a ballroom. To her surprise, she finds it charming, and even chats with a few of the guys – most notably Charles Durning. Over the course of a few months, she learns to dance, fixes up her hair, defies her grown children, gets a wardrobe full of twirly skirts, falls in love with Durning, has sex, enters the big contest for queen of the ballroom, and wins! That night, she dies in her sleep, the tiara on her head.

    The amazing part of this TV movie is it’s a musical . . about older people dancing and falling in love. I remember a song Maureen sings which goes, “Who gave you permission – who gave you the right?!” She sings it to her grown kids when they tell her to stop making a fool of herself.

  5. red says:

    Oh man. I have GOT to track this down.

  6. red says:

    Stevie – her autobiography is great, too – just chock-full of those anecdotes I love. She was such a no-nonsense kind of person. Not prone to a lot of drama. But she worked her ass off.

  7. Michael Doherty says:

    I adored Maureen Stapleton in “The Gathering”. She and Ed Asner gave me a new insight into life. My dad never let anyone else have an opinion about those who refused to go to Vietnam out of conscience. I learned that there was another side to the Vietnam story in that movie. I also learned about forgiveness. Thanks for this post!

  8. Cullen says:

    My mother hung me on a hook once. Only once.

    She was the only worthwhile thing about Johnny Dangerously. Well, okay, the farging icehole bit was good too.

    She was one of the greats.

  9. I remember her in The Electric Grandmother, which was based on a Ray Bradbury story. She played an android who was bought, or leased, to take care of some kids whose mother had died. They resented her at first, of course, and she had to win them over. Stapledon said that she didn’t know from SF so she just played the character straight, which was exactly what was needed.

  10. Laura says:

    It was a small role, but she was hysterical in The Money Pit, which is one of my favorite movies ever.

  11. Ceci says:

    Talking about having a time machine and being able to attend a memorable performance: what wouldn’t anyone give to have been there at the Actors Studio to watch Maureen Stapleton do a scene of Anna Christie with Marilyn Monroe?

    It is said to have been absolutely amazing. *Sigh*

  12. Nightfly says:

    Man, another great character actor gone. You only realize every wizard thing she did in her career when looking back. Rest in Peace.

  13. Whisky Pants says:

    I thought perhaps I’d link to a DC blogger who decided to memoralize Maureen Stapleton after realizing that she had confused her repeatedly with Jean Stapleton. It was a clever thing:

    http://jordanbaker.blogspot.com/2006/03/insomnia-diaries-maureen-stapleton.html

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