Betty White and other 90-something stars

Nonagenarian - A person whose age is in the nineties. 

- Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I watched Betty White at the People's Choice Awards recently.  All I can say is that when I am 90 years old, I hope to be as energetic and vibrant as she is.  Betty Marion White was born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 17, 1922.  Today she celebrates her 90th birthday.  Happy Birthday and congratulations to the star of Hot in Cleveland!

 

Betty in 1958

Marjorie Lord, who played Danny Thomas' wife Kathy on Make Room for Daddy from 1957 until 1964, is 93 years old.  She was born Marjorie F. Wollenberg on July 26, 1918 in San Francisco, California.  On May 8, 2008, she took part in a panel discussion organized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences which was called "Salute to Television Moms."  In real life, Marjorie is the mother of actress Anne Archer of Fatal Attraction fame.

Lord has written a memoir entitled A Dance and a Hug.  You can check out her website at http://www.marjorielord.com/

Marjorie Lord

Marjorie and her television daughter, Angela Cartright, in 2005.

Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut.  Borgnine, who starred as Quinton McHale in the television comedy McHale's Navy from 1962 until 1966, is just days away from his 96th birthday. 

Borgnine also co-starred in a 1980s action series Airwolf.  In 1992, at the age of 92, the actor earned an Emmy nomination for his performance on ER.  Have a happy 96th, Ernie.


Actress and singer Nanette Fabray is 91 years old.  She was born Ruby Bernadette Nanette Fabares on October 27, 1920 in San Diego, California.  Her television performances with Sid Caesar in 1954 and 1955 earned her three Emmy Awards.  In 1961, she played the role of Broadway star Nan McGovern in her own sitcom, The Nanette Fabray Show. From 1979 until 1984, Fabray portrayed Katherine Romano, the mother of Bonnie Franklin's character, Ann Romano, on One Day at a Time.

Nanette has been legally deaf for many years and has campaigned vigorously for the betterment of the hearing impaired in the United States.  She is the widow of screenwriter/director Ronald McDougall, who died in 1973, and the aunt of singer/actress Shelley Fabares.

Nanette Fabray

Phyllis Diller was born Phyllis Ada Driver, on July 17, 1917 in Lima, Ohio.  The comedian is 94 years old and still active.  In fact, TV Guide Magazine has reported that the nonagenarian firebrand is set to make a two-day appearance on The Bold and the Beautiful in March, just in time for the CBS soap opera's 25th anniversary. 

Diller will reprise her role as Gladys Pope, a wild and impetuous make-up artist.  The character was seen many times on the show between 1995 and 2004.  According to TV Guide, The Bold and Beautiful has not announced the exact dates of Diller's appearances, but has revealed that "Gladys will be back with a whole new vocation and will play an integral part in a very romantic event - one that's timed perfectly for the soap's 25th anniversary."

Phyllis Diller

On the Cusp of 90

Jack Klugman of The Odd Couple and Quincy, M.E. will turn 90 years old in April of this year.  He was born Jacob Joachim Klugman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 27, 1922.



Editor's Updates

Ernest Borgnine passed away in Los Angeles, California on July 8, 2012 at the age of 95. 

Phyllis Diller died at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California on August 20, 2012.  She was also 95 at the time of her death.  

Jack Klugman died on December 24, 2012 in Woodland Hills, California.  He was 90 years old.  

Marjorie Lord passed away at her home in Beverly Hills, California on November 28, 2015.  She died of natural causes at the age of 97.

Nanette Fabray passed away on February 22, 2018 at the Canterbury Nursing Home in California.  She was 97 years old and she died from natural causes.


- Joanne

Further update on James (Jimmy) McNichol

On September 29, 2011, I wrote about James (Jimmy) McNichol.  A reader has sent me this update on him.

The reader says that James and his wife, Renee (nee Nash), are not divorced.  They currently reside in Durango, Colorado where they own a lakeside cabin that they rent out.  It's called "The Blue Water Lodge."  Their son, James Nash McNichol, goes by his middle name, Nash.  Nash is a freshman at Animas High School in Durango.

Apparently, James McNichol is completely removed from the entertainment industry.

My thanks to the reader.  Keep the banter coming!  I want to provide you with the most accurate information possible. 

- Joanne

Brady Bunch Guest Stars

The Brady Bunch ran for five seasons, from 1969 until 1974 on ABC.  During its run, the series featured many celebrity guest stars.  Here are descriptions of some of the most notable guest appearances on the show.

* Desi Arnaz, Jr., the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, appeared on The Brady Bunch during his teen heartthrob days.  In a Season One episode titled "The Possible Dream," Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) meets Desi after writing about him in her diary.  The episode aired on February 27, 1970.  Oh yes, we must not forget Marcia's heartfelt declaration after receiving her first kiss from Desi Jr.  "I'll never wash this cheek again!" she says dreamily.

Desi Jr. kisses Marcia

* Former football star Joe Namath guest-starred on a Season Five episode entitled "Mail Order Hero."  In that episode, which aired on September 21, 1973, Broadway Joe visits Bobby Brady (Mike Lookinland) because he mistakenly believes that Bobby is suffering from a terminal illness.


* In a Season Three episode, Davy Jones of the Monkees performs the song "Girl" at a music studio, visits the Brady home and promises to escort Marcia to her school dance.  The episode, titled "Getting Davy Jones," aired December 10, 1971.  Trivia note: Marcia Wallace, who portrayed Carol on The Bob Newhart Show, played the role of Marcia Brady's teacher in his episode.

Davy Jones on The Brady Bunch

To watch Davy Jones as he sings "Girl" on The Brady Bunch, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRNFus7Pbp4


* Marion Ross, the actress who later became famous as Marion Cunningham, the mother on Happy Days, played the part of Dr. Porter, a doctor who treats the Brady girls' measles in a Season One episode.  "Is There a Doctor in the House?" aired on December 26. 1969.

Marion Ross as Dr. Porter

* Hawaiian singer Don Ho appeared in the first of a three-part Season Four opener called"Hawaii Bound."  "Hawaii Bound was filmed on location in Hawaii and the first segment aired on September 22, 1972.  In Part One, Ho serenades the two youngest Brady children, Bobby and Cindy (Susan Olsen).  By the way, Don Ho passed away in Waikiki on April 14, 2007 of heart failure.  He was 76 years old.

To watch "Hawaii Bound," click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnz2S72QOI8


* The late horror actor Vincent Price appeared in two of the three segments of the Hawaii episode.  He played the role of the dastardly Professor Hubert Whitehead in "Pass the Tabu" (Part Two) and "The Tiki Caves" (Part Three).  Whitehead holds the Brady boys hostage until they are rescued by their parents, Mike (Robert Reed) and Carol (Florence Henderson).

Vincent Price, a lifelong smoker, died of lung cancer and emphysema on October 25, 1993.  He was 82 years old.


* Comic actress Imogene Coca is best remembered for her role opposite Sid Caesar in the 1950s variety series Your Show of Shows. In 1972, she played the Brady girls' eccentric Aunt Jenny in a Season Three episode entitled "Jan's Aunt Jenny."  In this episode, Jan Brady (Eve Plumb) sees a photograph of Aunt Jenny and fears that she will grow up to resemble her aunt.  FYI: Imogene Coca died in Westport, Connecticut on June 2, 2001 at the age of 92.

Imogene Coca as Aunt Jenny with Eve Plumb.

- Joanne

Bing Crosby and David Bowie: Their duet on Bing's last Christmas special

Eighty-something crooner Tony Bennett has made a habit of recording duets with much younger artists such as Lady Gaga and the late Amy Winehouse.  Intergenerational duets, however, are nothing new.

Bing Crosby was 74 years old in September of 1977 when he and his family and singer Rosemary Clooney embarked on a concert tour of England.  The tour included two weeks at the famed London Palladium.  While in England, Crosby recorded his final album, Seasons, and his last television appearance, a Christmas special.

The special was called Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas and Bing's guest star was 27-year-old British rock star David Bowie.  The two singers recorded a duet of "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace on Earth" for the show.  They taped the segment in London on September 11, 1977.

The original plan had been for Bowie to sing "The Little Drummer Boy" along with Bing.  David, however, did not feel comfortable with the song and his voice did not adapt well to it.  Composer/lyricists Buz Cohan, Larry Grossman and Ian Frasier quickly whipped up "Peace on Earth" which suited Bowie's voice much better.  Bing and Bowie met the morning of the taping, rehearsed for an hour and finished their duet in only three takes.

Crosby and Bowie made an unlikely pair.  They were men of different generations and different lifestyles.  The flamboyant Bowie, known for wearing makeup on stage, appeared much more conservative on Bing's special.  There was nary a hint of his androgynous persona because he was scrubbed clean of his usual mascara and fingernail polish.  For the TV special, Crosby wore a comfortable cardigan and the usually outlandish Bowie was almost unrecognizable with his neatly-combed hair and royal blue blazer.

Bing had no idea of who David Bowie really was.  If he had been better informed, it is almost certain that the collaboration wouldn't have taken place.  In an interview four days after the filming of the Christmas special, Bing described Bowie as "a clean cut kid and a real fine asset to the show.  He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well.  He could be a good actor if he wanted."  Crosby, of course, was unaware that David Bowie had already starred in the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

If Bing were so uninformed about David Bowie, how then did the pairing of this proverbial odd couple happen?  What brought about their collaboration?  Bing, it seems, wanted a young star to appear on his Christmas special and someone mentioned the name of David Bowie.  Although Bing had never heard of David, his children certainly had. An invitation was sent to Bowie and he accepted enthusiastically.  Surprisingly, he was a fan of Bing's.

After his tour of England was completed, Bing Crosby flew to Spain on his own.  His intention was to do some hunting and golfing there.  On the evening of October 14, 1977, however, Crosby, who had a heart condition, collapsed after playing 18 holes of golf near Madrid.  He died of a massive heart attack.

Bing's final Christmas special aired on November 30, 1977, just weeks after his death and his duet with David Bowie generated a great deal of public interest.  It became a perennial music video, best-selling single and a CD-ROM.

In the June 5, 1999 issue of TV Guide, the Crosby-Bowie performance was selected as one of the 25 best television moments of the 20th century and their duet turned out to be a great Christmas song.  Yet, if Bing had known more about David Bowie and his underground lifestyle, it probably wouldn't have come about. 

To watch a video clip of David Bowie on Bing Crosby's Merrie Old Christmas, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiXjbI3kRus


- Joanne

More televison pets: From Jed Clampett's dog to Mr. Ed

On April 25, 2011, I wrote about well known pets on television shows.  I profiled such TV pet luminaries as Fred the Cockatoo on Baretta and Arnold the Pig on Green Acres.  At the end of my posting, I said there would be future postings about television pets on TV Banter.  As promised, here is some more about TV animals.

Ann B. Davis (Alice on The Brady Bunch) and Tiger

On The Brady Bunch, the Brady family had a pet dog named Tiger.  In real life, the original Tiger died after being run over by a florist's truck.  It happened during the filming of an episode of the series titled "Katchoo."  In that 1969 episode, the Bradys fear that daughter Jan (Eve Plumb) is allergic to the family dog.

The Clampetts and Duke

Remember how Elly May Clampett loved her critters on The Beverly Hillbillies?  There was, however, one critter who was more associated with Elly's father, Jed.  It was Jed's sleepy hound dog, Duke. 

Duke, a blood hound, was Jed Clampett's hunting dog.  When the Ozark hillbilly family moved to Beverly Hills after striking oil, Duke became increasingly lazy.  The canine just sat around the mansion all day.  Jed, who bemoaned Duke's behaviour, once remarked, "There's a dog who could trail a butterfly through a rain storm.  Now he couldn't smell cabbage cooking."

Duke was portrayed by canine actor Stretch who had appeared in the military comedy No Time for Sergeants with Andy Griffith.  When Stretch reached the age of 13, he was replaced on The Beverly Hillbillies by a younger bloodhound.

Honey West (Anne Francis) with Bruce

In the 1965-66 detective series Honey West, starring the late Anne Francis, Honey had a pet ocelot named Bruce.  According to Ronald L. Smith in his book Sweethearts of 60s TV, "The powerful thirty-pound animal pelted Anne around with his paws, leaving her black and blue.  When he chomped on her hand and drew blood, she had to have a tetanus shot."

Various South American ocelots played the role of Bruce.  Animal trainer Ralph Helfer, who supplied the wild cats, is quoted in The Encyclopedia of TV Pets as saying, "Anne Francis was a sweetheart, one of the few who that didn't mind if the ocelot scratched her a little bit when it jumped on her lap."  Helfer described the late actress as "a real animal lover."




Ted and Button the Chimp

How can we forget a pet monkey on a television series?  Back in 1972, the late Ted Bessell of That Girl fame starred in his own short-lived sitcom.  It was called Me and the Chimp and Bessell portrayed a dentist named Mike Reynolds.  Reynolds lived with his wife Liz, their children, Scott and Kitty, and a trouble making chimp named Buttons. 

Unfortunately for Ted Bessell, Me and the Chimp was a complete flop.  Critics panned it savagely to the point where Ted was forced to turn to directing in order to find work.  He died on October 6, 1996 of an aortic aneurysm.  At the time of his passing, he was 61 years old.

Alan Young and Connie Hines with Mr. Ed

The popular sitcom Mr. Ed (1961-1966) featured a talking equine.  Mr. Ed was a horse who only spoke to his owner, good-natured architect Wilbur Post (played by Alan Young).  Connie Hines had the role of Wilbur's wife, Carol Post. 
Ed was portrayed by a palomino named Bamboo Harvester.  The gelding was foaled in California in 1949 and trained by Les Hilton, a protege of Will Rogers.  In 1968, two years after the cancellation of Mr. Ed, Bamboo's health began to decline.  He suffered from a variety of ailments and was euthanized in 1970 at the age of 20.

You might wonder who provided Mr. Ed's deep voice.  It was cowboy star Allen Lane.  Lane, who was never credited during the run of the series, died of cancer in 1973.  He was 64.

As for Alan Young, he is now 92 years old.  His television wife, Connie Hines, passed away on December 18, 2009 at the age of 78.

- Joanne

Eric Braeden: The man who portrays Victor Newman

Last Saturday afternoon, I spent some time at the National Women's Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  Eric Braeden , better known as Victor Newman, the ruthless business tycoon on The Young and the Restless, made an appearance before an enthusiastic crowd of females.  The actor has a great many fans in Toronto as his show is hugely popular here.

At the age of 70, Eric is an imposing figure who seems to have a preference for dressing in black T-shirts.  He answered questions amiably, but remained fairly tight-lipped and revealed very little information about what will happen on The Young and the Restless.  He praised Y&R castmates Doug Davidson (Paul Williams) and Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor) for their sense of humour.  He also discussed how demanding it is to be a regular on a daytime soap, including the hard work and long hours required.

Eric Braeden was born in Bredenbeck, Germany (near Kiel) on April 3, 1941.  His birth name was Hans Jorg Gudegast.  He grew up in poverty and his father died when he was 12 years old.  Sports were his saving grace and he excelled at athletics.   During the cold German winters, he played hockey on frozen ponds.  He also played soccer and handball during his early youth.

Due to the brain concussions he suffered as a child, Eric was forced to give up contact sports.  So he took up track and field instead and won the German Youth Championship in 1958.  Today he is an ardent tennis fan and a very good player.

In 1959, Eric immigrated to the United States in search of the American Dream.  His goals were to seek adventure and to study economics and politics.  After a brief stay in New York, he moved on to Galveston, Texas where his cousin helped him to find a job as a translator.  Then he travelled to Montana where he worked as a cowhand on a ranch.

Eric Braeden eventually won a partial track scholarship to Montana State University (now the University of Montana) in Missoula.  While a college student, he and a friend made a film called The Riverbusters about the first men to take a boat from the source of the Salmon River and back.  In an attempt to find a distributor for the film, Eric went to Los Angeles.  While in L.A., he discovered that his rugged looks and his accented English provided him with opportunities as an actor.

Eric began appearing on television in 1961.  Due to his German accent, he was typecast in Nazi roles.   In 1963 and 1964, he appeared as a German soldier in several episodes of the World War II drama, Combat!.  He also co-starred as Luftwaffe Major Bentz in yet another war drama, 12 O'Clock High. The episode, titled "Day of Reckoning," aired on March 28, 1966.  During this time, Eric was still credited as Hans Gudegast.

From 1966 until 1968, Eric Braeden played the role of the German captain, Hans Dietrich, on Rat Patrol.  Rat Patrol was set in North Africa during World War II and the series followed the exploits of a 4-man team of Allied commandos who were part of a long-range desert group.

During the 1970s, Braeden had guest roles in such television series as Gunsmoke (1971, 1974), McCloud (1973), Kojak (1977) , The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1978).  On The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, titled "The Critic," Eric portrayed a pompous media critic named Karl Heller.  Heller was hired to provoke controversy on the 6 o'clock news and began lashing out at the people of Minneapolis.

In 1980, Eric was cast as the villainous Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless.  During his early days on the show, he had a dark handlebar moustache and dressed in Western attire with stetsons and cowboy boots.  Braeden was originally hired for a temporary run, but he became so popular that his contract was extended.  He was the villain the fans loved to hate. 

Yet Victor Newman is not a one-dimensional villain.  He has many sides to him.  Braeden likes that aspect of his character.  He told the crowd at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre that one of his favourite storylines on the show was the appearance of Victor's mother, Cora Miller, 30 years after leaving her son at an orphanage. 

Unlike the much-married Victor Newman, Eric Braeden has been married to the same woman, Dale Russell Gudegast, since 1966.  Their son, Christian Gudegast, is a writer and director.  Of his time on The Young and the Restless, Eric told the Vancouver publication Good News Weekly earlier this year that he was "very grateful to be employed for the last 31 years on the show."  He said, "It has mostly been a very good experience and I've been surrounded by very good actors."

Here are some photos of Eric Braeden at the National Women's Show here in Toronto.

- Joanne

Jean Stapleton: Legendary Television Star

There's nothing like humour to burst what seems to be an enormous problem.  Humour reduces it to nothing and wipes it out.  That's what humour does.  That was a great part of that show in terms of every issue, but especially bigotry.  And you know you make fun of something, it reduces it to nothing."

- Jean Stapleton on the humour of All in the Family
From her November 28, 2000 interview for the Archive of American Television


At night, I've been watching old episodes of All in the Family on the Deja View channel.  This has caused me to think about the actors on the show, particularly Jean Stapleton.  Yes, Edith Bunker, The Dingbat herself.

Stapleton's television husband, Carroll O'Connor, who portrayed the bigoted Archie Bunker, died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on June 21, 2001.  Jean is 88 years old now and hasn't been active in show business for years.  Although an accomplished actress of the stage and screen, she has made her greatest impact in the role of Archie's dim-witted but kindly and devoted wife.

Jean Stapleton was born Jeanne Murray in New York City on January 19, 1923, the daughter of Joseph E. Murray, a billboard advertising salesman.  Her mother, Marie Stapleton Murray, was a singer.

In real life, Jean is nothing like Edith Bunker.  Well-educated and intelligent, Jean attended Hunter College on Manhattan's Upper East Side.  It was while attending Hunter College that she began her theatrical career by performing as a member of the Robert Shaw Chorale.

Jean made her professional stage debut in the summer of 1941 at the Greenwood Playhouse in Peaks, Maine.  She made her first New York stage appearance in 1948 in The Corn is Green and by the mid-1950s she was appearing in Broadway musicals such as Damn Yankees! and Bells are Ringing. 

Jean's began her illustrious television career in 1951 with an appearance as an unnamed woman on an episode of Starlight Theatre titled "The Come-back."  Her next appearance was in "The Storm," a 1952 segment of Robert Montgomery Presents.  In 1954 Jean had a recurring role on a short-lived daytime soap opera called Woman with a Past.  She played a secretary named Gwen. 

On October 26, 1957, Jean Stapleton married William H. Putch, a theatre director and producer.  They raised two children, a son named John and a daughter, Pamela, who both pursued show business careers.  John Putch is an actor/writer/director and Pamela Putch is also an actor. 

Jean's early work in television included roles in The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Dr. Kildare, Dennis the Menace and Naked City.  In 1955, she appeared in an episode of the Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse called "A Business Proposition."  She played Nurse Whitney in a 1961 episode of Dr. Kildare titled "The Patient."  In 1962, she portrayed Mrs. Flora Davis, Mr. Wilson's housekeeper on Dennis the Menace.  Between 1961 and 1963, Jean appeared three times on the police drama Naked City.

On an episode of the courtroom drama series The Defenders which aired on December 1, 1962, Jean co-starred with future TV husband Carroll O'Connor.  Both were unknown at the time and Jean's character was asked to identify a murderer while on the witness stand.  The actor playing the murderer was O'Connor.

Before her iconic role on All in the Family, Jean Stapleton had guest spots on Route 66 (as Mrs Snider on a 1963 episode called "93 Percent in Smiling"), My Three Sons (as Molly Dubar in a 1964 episode called "The People's House " and on The Patty Duke Show as Mrs. Pollack in 1965's "The Raffle."

Television producer Norman Lear remembered Jean's performance in Damn Yankees! and cast her in the part of Edith Justice in a 1968 pilot for a new sitcom titled Justice for All.  Carroll O'Connor played her husband, Archie Justice.  In 1969 there was a second pilot, Those Were the Days.

CBS eventually picked up the series and called it All in the Family.  The family's last name was changed from Justice to Bunker and Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner joined the show as the Bunkers' daughter Gloria and her husband.  Archie and Edith's son-in-law no longer had an Irish background but a Polish one.  His name was changed from Richard "Dickie" (no last name given) to Mike Stivic.

All in the Family aired from 1971 until 1979 and was truly one of the most remarkable series in the history of American television.  This groundbreaking series was not afraid of tackling the issues of the day straight on.  It dealt with a plethora of social, political, religious and racial issues.  Given its sensitive subject matter, it was bound to be controversial, especially when the liberal Mike and the conservative Archie locked heads.

In all the turmoil, Edith Bunker was the voice of reason.  Edith was not a bright woman, but she was compassionate and nonjudgmental.  She had a certain intuitive wisdom.  She understood Archie and loved him inspite of his flaws.  During the course of the show, she underwent many traumas.  She endured menopause.  She was almost raped and she had phlebitis.

As the 1977-78 season began, changes were in the air for All in the Family.  Archie left his job as a dock foreman in order to pursue his dream of owning his own business.  Together with Harry the bartender, he purchased Kelsey's Bar from its ailing proprietor and renamed it Archie's Place.

At the end of the 1977-78 season, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers announced that they were leaving the show for other pursuits.  Thus, on the season finale, Mike, Gloria and their son Joey headed for California where Mike was to take a teaching position. 

After the departure of Reiner and Struthers, the show changed radically.  Most of the action shifted away from the Bunker home to Archie's bar. In the fall of 1979, the title of the series was changed to Archie Bunker's Place.  Edith's appearances became less frequent.

In 1980, Jean Stapleton left her role as the beloved Edith Bunker.  She felt that the role had reached its potential and that it was time for her to move on. Norman Lear was not thrilled at the prospect of Edith's death.  When Jean reminded him that Edith was only a fictional character, Lear replied, "I don't see it that way."  Nevertheless, on the very first episode of the second season of Archie Bunker's Place, it was revealed that Edith had died after suffering a stroke.

After leavng behind her Edith Bunker character, Jean took on the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 television movie Eleanor: First Lady of the World.  For her performance in the role of the former First Lady, Jean received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special.

On November 23, 1983, William H. Putch died suddenly of a heart attack while directing his wife in The Showoff in Syracuse, New York.  He was 60 years old at the time of his death.

In 1990-91, Jean starred with Whoppi Goldberg in the short-lived sitcom Bagdad Cafe.  Jean and Whoopi played a sort of female "Odd Couple," two women with vastly different personalities.  Whoopi portrayed Brenda, the owner and operator of a diner named Bagdad Cafe located in the middle of the Mojave desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  Jean's role was that of Jasmine Zweibel who went to work for Brenda and took up residence in the motel.  Jasmine was Felix Unger type, neat and structured while Brenda was sloppy and disorganized.  Unfortunately, the series only lasted for 15 episodes.

During the 1990s, Jean Stapleton continued making guest appearances on television comedies.  She was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aunt Vivian in a 1994 episode of Grace Under Fire called "The Road to Paris, Texas."  In a 1996 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond entitled "I Wish I Were Gus," she played the role of Ray Barone's Aunt Alda, his mother's estranged sister.  In 1996, she also guest-starred in an episode of Murphy Brown in which she portrayed Miles' grandmother, Nana Silverberg. 

Jean Stapleton has not appeared in a television role since 2001 when she portrayed Irene Silverman in the TV movie Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes.  As of 2008, she was living in retirement in Manhattan.

SOME QUICK FACTS ABOUT JEAN STAPLETON

* Jean is not related to the late actress Maureen Stapleton. Maureen Stapleton died in 2006.

* Jean's cousin is former musical theatre actress Betty Jane Watson.   Her uncle, Joseph E. Deming, was a vaudevillian and her brother, Jack Stapleton, was a stage actor. 


* Jean turned down the role of Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote.  The part went to Angela Lansbury instead.

To watch the highlights of Jean Stapleton's November 28, 2000 interview for the Archive of American Television, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVkr81jeKF8


EDITOR'S UPDATE (April 4, 2013): Jean Stapleton turned 90 years old on January 19, 2013.

EDITOR'S UPDATE (June 2, 2013):  Jean Stapleton died of natural causes on Friday, May 31, 2013 at the age of 90.  Her son, John Putch, informed the Associated Press that she passed away at her home in New York City. R.I.P. Jean.


- Joanne