Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#0Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:00pm
Two-time Tony, Oscar and Emmy winning actress Maureen Stapleton just passed away at the age of 80. One of the great actors of the century, she will be remembered for creating the lead role in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo (as well as several other Williams heroines) and for her Oscar-winning turn as Emma Goldman in the film Reds. Personally, I'll never forget watching her walk off with the Elizabeth Taylor production of The Little Foxes in the small role of Aunt Birdie -- she was amazing. May she rest in peace.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1719309
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 3/13/06 at 01:00 PM
#1re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:01pm
She was a fantastic actress.
Such sad news.
I stand corrected, you are as vapid as they say.
NYadgal
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
#2re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:02pm
So talented.
This is sad and unexpected news.
Rest in peace.
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
#3re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:06pm
I am so sad about this! One of my favorite actresses. Interiors, oh my...
(The hubby called while i was typing this...he was practically crying.)
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#4re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:11pmSad. I love her story on Broadway: The Golden Age about seeing Glass Menagerie and walking all night afterwards.
#5re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:12pm
Aww, sad.
I just watched COCOON the other night, which she was great in.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#6re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:14pm
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 3/13/06 at 01:14 PM
SorryGrateful
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#7re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:30pm
You promised me poems. ~Tricky
#8re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:41pm
I absolutely adored her as Aunt Birdie in Little Foxes. She will be missed greatly
The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another... and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.
~Leonard Bernstein~
toomeytwopiece
Featured Actor Joined: 1/30/06
#9re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 1:55pmI grew up thinking of her as "The Electric Grandmother." She did that movie in the 80s - and it was wonderful. How sad that she is gone.
#10re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:40pm
She'll always be the Queen of the Stardust Ballroom for me.
Sweet Lorraine is also a more recent favorite.
"Love Life. Live." Michael Bennett
Sandy in Sable
Stand-by Joined: 3/6/06
#11re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:44pm
doodlenyc, I'm so glad that you mentioned Interiors. That's just what I came to do. :) Maureen Stapleton "vs." Geraldine Page, great stuff. I love my Method Mommas.
May she rest in perfect peace.
#12re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 2:47pm
I'm remembering seeing her in Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady, when I was 14. A terrible play, really, but how exciting it was to see her do a dazzling--and wrenchingly emotional--star turn.
If you haven't read her out-of-print memoir, A HELL OF A LIFE, find a copy. It's theatrical-memoir GOLD.
#13re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:01pmThis is creepy because I am watching HER right NOW on Broadway: The Golden Age! Such sad, sad news. She was a real treasure. She will be missed.
"You've gotta have a swine to show you where the truffles are."
#14re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:06pmI'll always remember being 11 years old and going into Philly to see REDS on screen and her absolutely brilliant turn as Emma Goldman. What a talent. Rest in peace.
#15re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 3:35pm
Maureen was a friend of my parents and my godfather when I was a toddler in New York. This is going to be pretty devastating to my father, in particular. They were very close friends at one point.
She was an amazing woman with a rare talent. She will be missed by many who loved her.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#16re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 5:05pm
I never saw her on stage, but I loved her in The Gathering with Edward Asner. I remember The Electric Grandmother as well.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#17re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 6:40pmShe was one of the Greats. In addition to her memorable Birdie in THE LITTLE FOXES, I also had the honor of seeing her play Amanda in THE GLASS MENAGERIE at The Circle in the Square in the mid-seventies. She was astonishing. I went with a couple of friends and we waited to meet her after the show. She was so gracious and kind. That was thirty years ago and the memories of that performance and that meeting are still so vivid. God rest her sweet soul.
#18re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 7:14pmAnd let's not forget her as Albert's mother in the film version of BYE BYE BIRDIE!
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#19re: Acting Legend Maureen Stapleton is Dead
Posted: 3/13/06 at 7:37pm
I was fortunate enough to see her in a revival of THE GLASS MEWNAGERIE with Pamela Payton-Wright and Rip Torn as well as in PLAZA SUITE. She was an extremely compelling actress.
"May flights of angels sing her to her rest."
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
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