Maureen Stapleton, an Oscar-winning character actress whose subtle vulnerability and down-to-earth toughness earned her dramatic and comedic roles on stage, screen, and television, died Monday. She was 80.

The longtime smoker died from chronic pulmonary disease in the Berkshire hills town of Lenox, where she had been living, said her son, Daniel Allentuck.

Stapleton, whose unremarkable, matronly appearance belied her star personality and talent, won an Academy Award for her supporting role as anarchist-writer Emma Goldman in Warren Beatty's 1981 film "Reds," about a left-wing American journalist who journeys to Russia to cover the Bolshevik Revolution.

Stapleton was nominated several times for a supporting actress Oscar, including for her first film role in 1958's "Lonelyhearts"; "Airport" in 1970; and Woody Allen's "Interiors" in 1978. Her other film credits include the 1963 musical "Bye Bye Birdie" opposite Ann-Margret and Dick Van Dyke, "Johnny Dangerously," "Cocoon," "The Money Pit" and "Addicted to Love."

--I remember becoming a fan of hers while sitting on the mat in kindergarten class watching "The Electric Grandmother." Anyone else see that? Probably not her best work, but a good kid movie!

Source: New York Daily News

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Posted by Lawren at March 14, 2006 07:29 AM | Trackbacks (0)

You Said

The Electric Grandmother is the all-time BEST kids movie! Very hard to find...I got a tv to video copy off of Ebay a while ago.

Says: Lindsay at March 14, 2006 10:15 AM

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