| Maureen Stapleton |
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EARLY LIFE AND CAREER Born in Troy, New York into a strict Irish American Catholic family with an alcoholic father, Stapleton began acting in theater after finishing high school and rapidly gained respect as both a dramatic and comedic actress. She fled to New York City at the age of 18, and did some modelling to pay the bills. She once said that it was her infatuation with the actor Joel McCrea that led her into acting. She made her Broadway debut in Burgess Meredith 's production of '' The Playboy Of The Western World '' in 1946. Stepping in because Anna Magnani refused the role due to her limited English, Stapleton won a Tony Award for her role in Tennessee Williams ' '' The Rose Tattoo '' in 1951. (Magnani's English improved, however, and she was able to play the role in the film version, winning an Oscar). Stapleton played in other Williams' productions, including Twenty-Seven Wagons Full of Cotton and '' Orpheus Descending '', as well as Lillian Hellman 's '' Toys In The Attic ''. She won a second Tony Award for Neil Simon 's '''The Gingerbread Lady''', which was written especially for her, in 1971. Her film career also brought her immediate success, with her debut in '' Lonelyhearts '' (1958) earning a nomination for an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress . She was nominated again for '' Airport '' (1970) and '' Interiors '' (1978) and won for '' Reds '' (1981), in which she portrayed the social activist Emma Goldman . She ended her acceptance speech with the quip "I would like to thank everyone I've ever met." Her more recent appearances included ''Johnny Dangerously'' (1984), '''' (1985 and 1988). Stapleton's first husband was Max Allentuck (general manager to the producer Kermit Bloomgarden), and her second husband was playwright David Rayfiel, from whom she was divorced. She had a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Katherine, by her first husband and later was a devoted grandmother. Stapelton suffered from anxiety and alcoholism for many years, and once told an interviewer, "The curtain came down and I went into the vodka." She said that her unhappy childhood contribulted to her insecurities. She was not related to actress Jean Stapleton . A heavy smoker, Maureen Stapleton died of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at her home in Lenox, Massachusetts , at the age of 80. In 1981 Hudson Valley Community College in Stapleton's childhood city of Troy, NY dedicated a theater in her name at the suggestion of then college president Joseph Bulmer who was a childhood friend. The theatre is located in the college’s Raymond H. Siek Campus Center, which recently underwent an extensive, $8.4 million renovation, which had resulted in the closure of the theatre since January 2005. Due to cost constraints, the theatre was not included in the renovation project; the college hopes to secure additional philanthropic support to make the entire renovation of the theatre possible.
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