Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actress of stage, television, and film. Stapleton is best known for having portrayed Edith Bunker, the long-suffering yet devoted wife of Archie Bunker, on the 1970s sitcom "All in the Family". Stapleton was a three-time recipient of the Prime Time Emmy Award for leading actress in a comedy series and won two Golden Globes in the same category during the show's airing. She also made occasional appearances on the "All in the Family" follow-up series "Archie Bunker's Place", but asked to be
Archie Bunker "Till Death Us Do Part". In 1999, "TV Guide" ranked Archie Bunker number 5 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list. In 2005, Archie Bunker was listed as number 1 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, defeating runners-up such as Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo, Fonzie, and Homer Simpson. Archie's chair is in the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History. Archie has a gruff, overbearing demeanor, largely defined by his bigotry towards a diverse group of individuals—blacks, Hispanics, "Commies", gays, hippies, Jews, Asians, Catholics, "women's libbers", and Polish-Americans are frequent targets of his barbs. As