# I could have swore Jean Stapleton was dead.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286 "2001-08-27T05:47:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/1 "2001-08-27T05:47:36Z")
I read in the paper today that Jean Stapleton (“Dingbat” on Norman Lear’s All in the Family) couldn’t make Carrol O’Connors funeral as she had something else going on. I could have _swore_ she passed away several years ago. Has this ever happened to you? Finding out someone has passed on without your awares is disconcerting enough, but believing someone is 6 feet under when they are quite alive is really odd. This was in ‘Parade’ magazine, the weekly sunday supplement, if that matters. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/2 "2001-08-27T06:31:12Z")
This isn’t really a General Question. It’s more of a survey. Off to IMHO. **DrMatrix** — General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Spooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Spooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spooky)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/3 "2001-08-27T06:53:00Z")
I figured you meant Maureen Stapleton, who I REALLY thought was dead, but I looked 'em up on Dead People Server and, by golly, they’re BOTH alive! I guess this is great news. have a nice night. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/4 "2001-08-27T12:13:57Z")
No, just Edith passed away. I actually had the same problem since I wasn’t terribly old when the character died. Imagine my surprise to find out a few years later that the actress was still ok. Fool me once… ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/5 "2001-08-27T12:51:58Z")
Jean Stapelton’s _alive_??? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/6 "2001-08-27T12:59:31Z")
Fay Wray has no right to be still alive, but she is. Until a few months ago, I would have sworn she died 15 years ago, if not more. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/7 "2001-08-27T13:17:13Z")
Stapleton Air Field is dead, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/8 "2001-08-27T13:25:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\*Fay Wray has no right to be still alive, but she is. Until a few months ago, I would have sworn she died 15 years ago, if not more. \*\* Really? My God, she must be a hundred years old. I’m with you, though, Tedster. I would have sworn up and down that Jean Stapleton was as dead as Al Capone, and when she popped up in _You’ve Got Mail_ it was as if a ghost had walked onto the screen. I was sitting these thinking “Hey, wait a second, that’s Jean Stapleton. I thought she was dead,” when a person a few rows behind us said to their party, “Hey, that’s Jean Stapleton. I thought she was dead!” I wonder if people tell her that and if she says “Yeah, I get that a lot,” like Snake Plissken. ---
**Author:** ![the\_O-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@the\_O-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O-man)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/9 "2001-08-27T13:34:47Z")
I would have bet the farm that Nancy Dussault was dead. I know I heard it on the radio or TV back in the late 80’s. She was the wife of Ted Knight in the sitcom “Too Close for Comfort.” I thought how ironic, because Ted Knight died about a year after the series run. I thought I heard of her death within three years of that. I of course told just about everyone I knew, and said “wasn’t it a shame? Some kind of cancer.” Now I am glad that we have the handy-dandy internet to check up on stuff like that and save face in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/10 "2001-08-27T13:39:52Z")
The [Dead People Server](http://dpsinfo.com/dps.html) is a good place to check on celebrity status. Beware of mourning too soon! :eek: And if they are dead, [Find A Grave](http://findagrave.com) may help find where they’re buried. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/11 "2001-08-27T15:15:33Z")
“Fay Wray has no right to be still alive, but she is.” —Ahem. There are so few silent stars left, there’s no need to be pushing the old dears in front of trucks, bib. • Fay Wray (b. 1907, entered films 1923) • Anita Page (b. 1910, entered films 1925—a good friend of mine) • Mary Brian (b. 1908, entered films 1924) • Baby Peggy (b. 1918,. entered films 1921) • Mickey Rooney (b. 1920, entered films 1926) Plus a few more I won’t remember till I see their obits in “Classic Images.” ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/12 "2001-08-27T16:23:14Z")
I thought Jean Stapleton was dead as well, until Caroll O’Connor died and I read that she couldn’t be there at the funeral. For years, I thought that John Gielgud was dead. My husband would say, “No, no, you’re thinking of Alec Guiness. He’s dead.” I would always get them confused (no idea why). Then, last year (IIRC) they _both_ up and died within months of each other. (This is bad to say, but at least I don’t have to worry about that anymore). I thought Frank Oz was dead. The other day, I was reading that he’s going to be in some new movie (don’t remember what). I said, “Oh, he must have filmed it before he died.” My husband said he wasn’t dead. We looked it up and to my surprise, he’s still around. I thought he died a few years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/13 "2001-08-27T16:26:03Z")
I think **Jeannie** got Frank Oz confused with Jim Henson. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/14 "2001-08-27T16:44:21Z")
Jean Stapleton is not only alive but well and very active. She does at least one or two movies or movies for television a year, in addition to her work on the stage. Earlier this year she did a great job in “Like Mother, Like Son”, the TV movie about the Kimes (the grifters who killed their landlady in New York – Jean played the landlady). TV stars tend to fade from consciousness unless they’re on a big hit show. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/15 "2001-08-27T16:50:07Z")
Just so you won’t be surprised, the father on Good Times is actually still alive too. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/16 "2001-08-27T16:58:00Z")
I totally had this problem with John Gielgud for years. Lucky for me, he solved my problem not too long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/17 "2001-08-27T17:40:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*I think **Jeannie** got Frank Oz confused with Jim Henson. \*\* Actually, no. The reason that I remember it being Frank Oz that died (well, not really, but I thought so) is that I remember thinking, “Oh, he was the voice of Miss Piggy. How sad.” I know for a fact that Jim Henson died many years ago, because I can still remember my shock over it when my mom told me about it. I was still a kid. The Frank Oz thing was not long ago. In fact, I could swear that my husband told me about it. ---
**Author:** ![kaiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@kaiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaiju)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/18 "2001-08-27T18:08:56Z")
You might be thinking of dead Mupetteer Richard Hunt, who was the voice of Janice and Beaker. Of course I was sure Dave Goelz was the dead one. So that fits this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/19 "2001-08-27T19:38:55Z")
Jean Stapleton is currently in Minneapolis doing a play at the Guthrie Lab Theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286/20 "2001-08-27T20:09:47Z")
I even had tears in my eyes when I watched “All in the Family” re-runs a few months back, knowing she was no longer with us. Sheesh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-swore-jean-stapleton-was-dead/78286.md?page=2)