Tanya Roberts

Tanya Roberts came from modest beginnings. She was born in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Dorothy Leigh (Smith) and Oscar Maximilian Blum, a pen salesman. Her father was American, from an Austrian Jewish/Hungarian Jewish family, and her mother was English and moved to the U.S. after marrying ...

Victoria Leigh Blum (October 15, 1955 – January 3, 2021)[1] known by the stage name Tanya Roberts, was an American actress, producer, and former model. She was best known for playing Julie Rogers in the final season of the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels, Stacey Sutton in the James Bond film A View to a Kill, and Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show

Early life Roberts was born in 1955 in the Bronx, New York City, the second child of a father of Irish descent and a Jewish mother.[5] She has one older sister, Barbara.[6] Roberts's father supported their family on a modest income, working as a fountain pen salesman in Manhattan.[7] Roberts and her sister were raised in the central Bronx.[8]

She relocated from New York with her mother to live near Toronto (Mississauga) for several years, where she started forming a photo portfolio and laying plans for a modeling career. At age 15, she left high school and lived for a while hitchhiking across the United States. She eventually returned to New York City and became a fashion and cover model. After meeting psychology student Barry Roberts (while waiting in line for a movie), she proposed to him in a subway station and they were soon married.[7] While Barry pursued a career as a screenwriter, she began to study at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen under the name Tanya Roberts.

Career

Roberts began her career as a model in TV ads for Excedrin, Ultra Brite, Clairol, and Cool Ray sunglasses. She played serious roles in the off-Broadway productions Picnic and Antigone. She also supported herself as an Arthur Murray dance instructor. Her film debut was the horror film Forced Entry (1975). This was followed by the comedy film The Yum-Yum Girls (1976).

In 1977, as her husband was securing his own screenwriting career, the couple moved to Hollywood. The following year, Roberts participated in the drama Fingers. In 1979 Roberts appeared in the cult movie Tourist Trap, and in Racquet, and California Dreaming. Roberts was featured in several television pilots which were not picked up; Zuma Beach (a 1978 comedy), Pleasure Cove (1979), and Waikiki (1980).

Roberts was chosen in the summer of 1980 from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the detective television series Charlie's Angels. Roberts played Julie Rogers, a streetwise fighter who used her fists more than her gun. Producers hoped Roberts's presence would revitalize the series's declining ratings and regenerate media interest in the series. Before the season's premiere, Roberts was featured on the cover of People magazine with a headline asking if Roberts would be able to save the declining series from cancellation.[9] Despite the hype of Roberts's debut in November 1980, the series continually drew dismal ratings and was cancelled in June 1981.[10]

Roberts played Kiri in the adventure fantasy film The Beastmaster (1982), which included a topless swimming scene. She was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy to help promote the movie, appearing on that issue's October 1982 cover. In 1983, Roberts filmed the Italian-made adventure fantasy film Hearts and Armour (also known as Paladini-storia d'armi e d'amori and Paladins — The Story of Love and Arms), based on the medieval novel Orlando Furioso. She portrayed Velda, the secretary to private detective Mike Hammer, in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You (1983). The two-part pilot spawned the syndicated television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. She declined to continue the role in the Mike Hammer series to work on her next project, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (1984). The movie was a box office and critical disaster, garnering her a nomination for "Worst Actress" at the Razzie Awards.[11]

Roberts appeared as Bond girl Stacey Sutton, a geologist, in A View to a Kill (1985). In the wake of this performance, she again was nominated by the critics for a Razzie Award.[12] Roberts other 1980s films include; Night Eyes, an erotic thriller; Body Slam (1987), an action movie set in the professional wrestling world, and Purgatory, a movie about a woman wrongfully imprisoned in Africa.

Roberts starred in Inner Sanctum (1991) alongside Margaux Hemingway. In 1992, she played Kay Egan in Sins of Desire. She appeared on the cable series Hot Line in 1994; and in the video game The Pandora Directive in 1996.

In 1998, Roberts took the role of Midge Pinciotti on the television sitcom That '70s Show. Roberts revealed on E! True Hollywood Story that she left the series in 2001 because her husband had become terminally ill. She wrote the foreword to the book The Q Guide to Charlie's Angels (2008).[13]. She departed from the show after the 3rd season and returned for a few special guest appearances in the 6th and 7th season, in 2004. She retired from acting in 2005.

Personal life

Roberts was married to Barry Roberts from 1974 until his death in 2006. They had no children.[14] Roberts lived in Hollywood Hills, California.[14]

Supposed death

On December 24, 2020, Roberts collapsed suddenly after returning home from walking her dogs.[19][20] She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles[21] and later placed on a ventilator.[3][4][22] It was reported that she died on January 3, 2021, in the presence of her partner, Lance O'Brien.[23][3][22][24][11] According to a spokesman, she had not been ill in the days leading up to her supposed death, and it was not COVID-19-related.[3]

TMZ later said that news of Roberts's death was reported incorrectly, and that O'Brien received a call, from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just after 10 a.m. on January 4, saying Roberts was still alive.[2] He was filming an interview with Inside Edition when the call came.[25] Her representatives later confirmed that Roberts was alive and remained in the intensive care unit in "dire" condition.[26][27]

She is survived by long-time partner Lance O'Brien, and her sister Barbara

Actress Tanya Roberts still ALIVE, spokesman says, after husband thought she died Sunday" "Spokesman Mike Pingle said her husband Lance thought he said goodbye for the last time Sunday, so Pingle sent out a press statement confirming Roberts’ death prematurely."

Tanya Roberts, de son vrai nom Victoria Leigh Blum, est une actrice et productrice américaine née le 15 octobre 1955 dans le Bronx à New York et faussement déclaré morte le 3 janvier 2021

Biographie Elle est issue d'une famille d'origine austro-irlandaise qu'elle qualifie elle-même de la classe moyenne. Son père, vendeur de stylo-plume, est muté et la famille Blum doit quitter Toronto pour s'installer dans le Bronx alors qu'elle a douze ans. Elle commence à fréquenter les bandes du quartier.

Elle s'est mariée à dix-neuf ans à Barry Roberts, union qui a duré jusqu'à la mort de celui-ci, en 2006. Ils n'ont pas eu d'enfants et Tanya ne s'est jamais remariée.

À seize ans, elle entame une carrière sur les planches du théâtre. Elle joue plusieurs années à New York avant de s'installer en Californie en 1980. Elle tourne quelques spots publicitaires pour la marque Ultra Brite notamment et décide de se présenter, avec 2 000 autres candidates, au casting de la série Drôles de dames, elle décroche le rôle de Julie Rogers. Puis, elle s'oriente vers le cinéma (Le Piège, Dar l'invincible et Sheena, reine de la jungle). Ce dernier rôle lui vaut d'être remarquée par les producteurs de la série des James Bond pour le rôle de Stacey Sutton dans Dangereusement vôtre.

La suite de sa carrière est moins flamboyante. Elle tourne dans de nombreux thrillers érotiques de catégorie B. Elle tiendra un rôle récurrent dans la sitcom That '70s Show.

L'actrice Tanya Roberts est toujours VIVANTE, a déclaré le porte-parole, après que son mari ait pensé qu'elle était morte dimanche " "Le porte-parole Mike Pingle a déclaré que son mari, Lance, pensait qu'il avait dit au revoir pour la dernière fois dimanche, alors Pingle a envoyé un communiqué de presse confirmant la mort prématurée de Roberts."

L'ancienne James Bond Girl est morte lundi soir à l'âge de 65 ans. Son décès avait été annoncé la veille par son agent, avant d'être démenti. L'actrice américaine Tanya Roberts est morte lundi soir à l'hôpital Cedars-Sinai de Los Angeles à l'âge de 65 ans, rapporte TMZ. Cette annonce fait suite à une première annonce de sa mort survenue la veille, ensuite démentie.

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